IZ: What Will Be, Will Be
by Cryssy-miu
Summary: There are defectives, there are enemies - many who find out how alike their lives really are. There are adventures, ones that change personalities, and there are bonds. There are secrets - many that change our lives. Most of all, our will to remain strong
1. Chapter 1

_(This is a pre-made fic. What I mean is, I already have 23 chapters on Deviantart. So, so far it's close to thirty chapters. This is a very long fic - divided into three parts: "What will Be, Will Be", "The Path To Redemption", and "A Defective's Worth". This fic is full of mind blowing secrets, action, humor, angst, fluff and drama! ...Just no romance. (Sorry.) Updates will be very slow, but if you're that impatient to read the next 23 chapters, I'll link to my account on Deviantart._

_without further a due...)_

_Chapter 1 - First Day Of Summer Vacation_

Zim gave a evil maniacal grin. "I think the zombie weasels are finally ripe, GIR! They will be my next plan to conquer THE HYU-MANS!"

"Ouuuuu...I like zombies!" came GIR's response as he stood on his head like an idiot. "So whut's this plan gonna do?"

Zim cackled, rubbing his hands together evilly. "We sell them, GIR, we sell them to the pet store! Once the shopkeepers sell the zombies to local filthy customers, they will have purchased creatures with the capability TO EAT THEIR BRAINS! MWAHAHAHAHA!"

"I like brains!" came GIR's cheerful and random response.

The irken snickered. "I will make them so irresistibly CUTE that even the DIB won't be able to keep from buying one! ...And once it sucks his brain, he will be nothing but a drooling moron and of no threat to our mission!"

The SIR unit nodded. "Oh, I understand..."

"...Do you really?"

"...Yes...maybe...no.."

Zim rolled his eyes and rubbed his temples. It would take years to get his incompetent servant to understand his plan. "Uggh...never mind." He pressed a few buttons on the panel in front of him, opening up a tube full of weasels with rather sharp fangs.

"Awwww...they're cute!" GIR cooed. "And fuzzy!"

Zim winced; they weren't as cute as he planned. "Eghh...they could use a few touch ups...here and there..." He put the lid back on the container and turned to GIR. "GIR, I need you to take these weasel experiments to the shelf in my lab labelled 'specimen.' ...Can you do that?"

The robot saluted, his eyes briefly flashing red. "Yes, m'lord!" He took a step forward, reaching out to the container, but Zim took a step back.

The alien's antennae were back a little and his eyes were narrowed. "GIR, it is _extremely important_ that you put it away right now and you do NOT take off the lid!" He gave him a shake; just enough to emphasize his point. "Do you understand me?"

The robot nodded, keeping his robotic claws held out.

Carefully, Zim handed him the container and watched him like a hawk as he made his way to the specimen shelf. He smirked a little to himself when he realized GIR was actually not messing this up.

_Hmm, well, it's about time he does something right._ Seeing that nothing was going wrong, Zim turned back to his computer, beginning to type some random things in it.

GIR silently watched; he had to make sure Zim wasn't watching him as he carefully reached down into the jar, picking it up. "Dawww...yer so cute an' weird lookin'! " he chirped, cuddling the fuzzy and snapping vermin.

"_GIR!_"

Frightened, GIR spun around to his livid master.

_"You put that weasel back RIGHT NOW!"_

The robot looked confused. "But why, Master? I's sooo fuzzy..."

_"Put it back!"_ Zim was frantic.

GIR quickly turned to grab the weasels and stuff them back into their pods, but the vermin crawled over his head and began scattering around Zim's base.

"AUUUUUUUUGH!" Zim screamed. "PROTECT YOUR BRAIN, GIR!"

The SIR unit squealed joyfully, clapping his hands. "Yaaaaaay! I don't got one!"

The irken leaped back as one of the weasels snapped at his face. "GIR! Help your master!"

"Okies!" the robot happily chirped, taking out a piece of cheese from his head and eating it, watching the show.

_"GIR! Help me right now!"_

GIR rolled his optics. "Okay, sheesh!" He got to his feet and sprung over to the weasels, grabbing them by the tails and hastily shoving them over his shoulder into their pods.

"NYEEEEEEEEGHHHH!" one screeched, sinking its sharp fangs deep into GIR's arm.

"GIR!"

GIR giggled, clapping. "YAAAY! IT BURNS!"

Zim tumbled forward, grabbing a few weasels, and prying the one that was trying to eat his robot's arm. "Grab the other two, GIR!"

The SIR unit obediently reached over, grabbing the weasels and hastily shoving them in the tubes. "Done!" He closed the container. "I'll go put it back on the shelf!" He was stopped when Zim angrily snatched the pod from his claws.

The alien narrowed his eyes at his servant. "No, _I_ will put them back. You go upstairs and watch tv or something, _GIR_," he growled. "Stay OUT of trouble."

"...Okay!"

Zim sighed, rubbing his temples yet again. GIR made him do that a lot. "I need to go contact the Tallest..."

"So, son, do you really want to stay here while Gaz and I are on vacation?" The professor asked as he packed some things into a suitcase. "We'll be gone all summer."

Dib forced a smile. "It's okay, Dad, someone needs to be here to stop Zim when he launches another plan for world domination."

Professor Membrane sighed and shrugged. "Well, you and your little friend have fun then."

_At least on my own I'd be able to work on a plan to stop Zim..._ Dib thought. He sighed; he really _did_ want to go to vacation, but he was the sole protector of the earth. "Have fun, Dad, Gaz."

Professor Membrane bent down to give his son a hug, Gaz stuck her tongue out, and they both retreated out the door.

Dis smiled to himself. "Now, to find out what Zim is up to.." He hurried upstairs and into his bedroom.

Zim mumbled angrily to himself as he cleaned up GIR's mess yet again and stacked the zombie weasels back into the specimen shelf. He sighed, shaking his head as he closed the closet and sat down in his chair. "Time to call the Tallest."


	2. Chapter 2

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be  
_Chapter 2 - Defective_

Red gave an angry growl. "It's been so long since he's called us. I figured we were free of him."

"Come off it," Purple moaned. "It's _Zim_ we're talking about here. Of course we're not free of him. We never will be."

Red simply growled as he turned on the transmission screen. "Yes, what is it now, Zim?"

Instantly, Zim gave an apologetic bow. "My Tallest, I'm _so_ sorry it's been so long since I've called. Things have been rather crazy on earth here..." He chuckled awkwardly. "I was afraid you'd think I was dead."

_If only_... Purple thought, but he forced a smile, hiding his disdain. "Yes...well...it's good to see that you're still kicking..."

"Mhmm," Red agreed begrudgingly. "So..." He suddenly narrowed his eyes a little. "How goes the plans for world domination?"

Zim was the one forcing a smile now. "O-oh, yes! The plans! Well, they're...they're..." He didn't want to admit that all his plans had been miserable failures.

"Hmmmm?" Red was taunting him now.

Zim felt his throat get a little tight as he nervously stammered. "They...well..."

"They _what?_" Oh, Red was GROWLING now.

Zim's antenna went back, feeling rather queasy in his squeedly spooch. "I...umm...I..I have a plan!" He attempted to save himself.

"Oh, really?" The Tallest were anything but enthused. "Well, what is it?"

"I...I have c-created an army of e-evil zombie weasels to suck the humans'...brains..?"

"Mhmm..." Purple raised an invisible eyebrow. "Let's see these zombie weasels."

"Y-yes, sirs..." Walking as stiff as a statue, his antenna buzzing, and feeling his leaders piercing and hostile stares on him, made the task of simply picking up the jar all the more difficult as he stiffly walked back over and shakily held the jar up.

Purple narrowed his eyes at the jar; as did Red.

Finally, Red stepped back with an amused smirk. "You really think a few fuzzy little vermin will destroy a planet as big as earth..?"

Zim swallowed hard, visibly shaking a little. "We-well...no...just...destroy the humans' brains...so no one will be able to stop me when I annihilate this planet..."

Red shook his head slowly. "That plan...is a total failure..._like you_.."

Zim flinched at that comment. "L...like me..?"

Purple was giving his brother a confused look. He knew one of these days he and Red would tell Zim the truth about his mission, but he never suspected that day was today. "Red, we're doing it today?"

"Absolutely."

Purple scratched his head. "But...I don't have any big speech prepared."

Red leered down at the tiny alien through the screen. "_I_ do," he snarled. "I can't tell you how long I've had this certain speech on my mind. I can't tell you how LONG I've wanted to say this.."

Zim was really shaking now; he had officially been knocked off his pillar of greatness and superiority.

"Master?" came a confused and worried voice from the door.

Zim turned and stared at GIR without really seeing him. "G-get back upstairs, GIR..." He didn't know what the Tallest were going to say, but he knew it wouldn't be good and didn't want GIR to hear this.

The little SIR unit stepped forward. "I just wanted ta' say ah'm sorry fer breakin' yer weasels.."

"G-get back upstairs, GIR...now," Zim ordered, but it sounded more like a plea around this point.

Red went on with his rant as if GIR had never entered the room. "Zim, first of all, you're a DISGRACE to the irken empire!"

Zim flinched again. "D...disgrace?"

"You actually call yourself an INVADER? You're no more than your stupid robot; just a piece of worthless garbage!"

It was at that moment that Zim spun around to his SIR unit. "But, GIR...h..he's an advanced-"

"ARGH! WE LIED!" Red yelled. "We didn't give you a real SIR! We didn't give you a real MISSION!"

Zim's antenna had dropped now; he had a pure expression of anguish. "B-but my mission...it...it's a secret mission! You told me so yourself!"

"We also told you that you were making us proud, that the entire operation of impending doom two would crumble without you, and that you were actually a real invader! And NONE of it is true!" Red barked.

Zim's eyes were wider that the Tallest had seen any irken eyes go. "But...but then why would you send me out to here if I had no mission?" He was hopeful yet; empty hope.

Red banged his fist down on the panel. "We didn't even know there was a PLANET where we sent you! We figured you'd keep flying and flying until you eventually ran out of fuel, or air, or SANITY! Unfortunately, none of that happened!"

Zim didn't say anything; he could only blink.

GIR just sat beside him, his fist in his mouth, looking worriedly up at the irken. He didn't know why his master was sad, but he didn't like it.

Zim could barely get a word out. "If...if I'm not an invader, what is my purpose then?"

Purple sighed. "I don't know...to annoy us, to ruin stuff, someone for the entire universe to hate, maybe..."

Zim just stared. It was all he could do. It felt like the world was falling, disintegrating right underneath him.

Red gave a snarl. "Anyways, what we're trying to say is you're useless, you're a pathetic excuse for an invader - for a living organism, you're a _**DEFECTIVE!**_ "

A defective. That was a blasphemy on irk; the kiss of death. The word of disgrace...

"A...a..defec..."

Red made his tone dangerously dark and low. "And for all we care, you can just shrivel up and blow away, _RUNT!_"

_Runt?_

Oh, that hurt – it _hurt._ More than a thousand needles piercing his skin, or being dunked in a vat of barbecue sauce... The one thing that Zim ever thought as inferior about him was his size..and they had the nerve to actually criticize him on that.

Both Red and Purple muttered something to each other, then Red turned to him. "But we've decided to be nice. If you promise to never EVER call us again, go near irk again, or leave that planet. It's now your new home...enjoy it," he added in a dark and venomous tone "And if you DO leave earth then we will KILL you. If you contact us, we will activate the self destruct sequence in your base...good-bye.."

They cut the transmission, leaving a stunned and heartbroken irken staring listlessly at a blank screen.

_(Ouch... Well, eventually he had to find out, right? And, when telling him, I don't imagine the Tallest being very gentle about it. Or maybe they would... Even they have hearts..(or some other weird alien organ.. Anyhoo, sorry it took so logn to update, but like I said, 23 chapters have already been submitted to .com – so you can find them, along with a bunch of mini IZ fics there._

_I'm really new to this site, so I would GREATLY appreciate someone telling me how to make those little lines in between paragraphs to separate them so they aren't jumbled. Please and thank you ^^;_

_Well, Cryssy out!)_


	3. Chapter 3

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be  
_Chapter 3 - Destruct Sequence_

The Tallest had long since cut the transmission, but Zim was still staring at the screen in complete and total anguish.

A defective? That's what he was? That was his sole purpose; messing things up?

"Master…?" GIR reached out to the irken, putting a claw on his shoulder.

Previous taunts, and voices rang through his head.

"_The Tallest lied to you! Your mission is all a big lie!"_

"_The Tallest lied to get rid of you!"_

" _Irken invader Zim, no longer an invader; you will forever be banished to Foodcourtia."_

"_And for all we care, you can just shrivel up and blow away, RUNT!"_

His knees weak, he fell down, holding himself up by his hands to keep his face from smacking the ground.

"Master..?" came that same innocent and concerned voice.

Finally, Zim turned to him. "So….you're not advanced..?"

GIR's antenna drooped as he looked to the ground. He always had a feeling he wasn't the "top advanced model" Zim had believed him to be, but wasn't too sure.

Zim just sounded tired, broken, and crushed. "I had a feeling….I could tell since the moment I got you that you were just stupid….I'm surprised I didn't catch onto all of this sooner…"

The SIR unit twiddled his fingers nervously. "You….gonna get rid of me..?"

"….I don't know.."

GIR was crushed by that remark; his eyes welling up with tears. The fact that Zim even had to _think_ about getting rid of him tore at his little heart.

And though Zim could tell that what he had said deeply hurt his sidekick….he didn't care… Or, yet, he didn't know if he should care that he hurt GIR's feelings….or even anything at this point. His own purpose had been cruelly snatched away from him. What was the point anymore? Should he activate the self-destruct button on his arm? Turn off all security around his base so Dib could come finish him off? Reveal himself to earth authorities? Revealing himself seemed to be the best option…perhaps he could put GIR and Minimoose in hiding so no one could hurt them. Or shut them down so they wouldn't feel a thing if the authorities opened them up.

"Squee…?" came a little squeak from the door; Minimoose.

Zim stared at Minimoose. "…."

Minimoose gave a "what's going on?" look to GIR, but the robot just shrugged, and moved out of the way as Zim brushed past him.

Zim's heart was hallow and empty; his eyes burned and the world seemed dark and dim…with no purpose or reason for being.

_Just like me…_

He wandered his way over to Dib's house and knocked on the door.

When the boy answered, he gasped, swinging the door open and banging Zim's face with the door. "ZIM!" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, growling. "What are you doing here?" His eyes went slightly wide. "And…why aren't you wearing your cruddy disguise?"

The irken had figured that if he went out exposing himself to the world, someone would eventually snatch him up and take him for an autopsy, but sadly no one was out at this time of night. "Because I don't need it..." he said quietly.

Dib raised an eyebrow. "You need it if you don't want to get captured! Not that it did much with concealing who you really are...But most people on this planet are stupid, anyways.."

Zim sighed painfully. "I _want_ to get captured, Dib..."

"Oh, well, if that's the case then...wait a minute-! You WANT to get captured?"

"Yes..."

Dib's eyes twitched. "Wha..?" There was nothing he could say to describe just how confusing and perplexing that was. For as long as he knew Zim, the alien did whatever he could to escape the authorities; wearing horrible disguises, with a horribly disguised home, and putting up at least _fifty_ security cameras inside and outside his home to keep his identity secured. So, THIS...was a surprise. "What..? Why?"

"Do you even care? " came Zim's tired response.

"Well.." The fact that _Zim_, someone so strong and confident and egotistical had suddenly been reduced to _this_ was very strange indeed. "Yeah...a little."

Zim raised an invisible eyebrow. "Really..? I figured you'd be jumping for joy that you'd finally have won and gets to see Zim's insides splattered all over an autopsy table.."

Dib hesitated. Sure, part of his was jumping for joy that he had won and would be able to expose Zim to the world, but he really wanted to know why Zim had suddenly changed his mind. "What changed your mind all of a sudden?"

Zim hesitated, about to speak, but he knew that if he told, Dib would just gloat and rub it in further. His emotional shell had already suffered enough cracks today; he was barely emotionally stable right now. "N...never mind.." He stepped off the front porch, then turned to Dib. "Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Don't let them hurt GIR or Minimoose.." Despite how awful, stupid, and incompetent both could be, they were still faithful and loyal and had stuck by his side until the very end. If there was anything he owed them, it was protection. "Just make sure your...earth scientists don't open them or experiment on them or anything. It's me you've always wanted, anyways.."

Dib couldn't say anything; what was he _supposed_ to say? He was so shocked!

Zim trudged on, hands in his pockets as he made his way back to the base. Perhaps he could shut GIR and Minimoose down or hide them and then give himself up. Yeah, that's what he'd do. He walked up the steps of his home and opened the door. Everything was silent. Well, he had already turned off the robot parents. Walking in further, Zim heard angry voices coming from downstairs.

_Huh?_

Who could be yelling? The only ones in the base were GIR and Minimoose... Concerned and confused, Zim hurried downstairs into his lab and was absolutely STUNNED by what he saw.

"You made Master sad!" GIR yelled angrily, shaking his tiny metallic fist at the screen which projected _THE TALLEST._

The two annoyed irkens just _leered_ down at the brave, but unbelievably stupid SIR unit who stood up boldly on the panels; his eyes beet red in rage.

"SQUEE!" came Minimoose's shrill and angry squeak.

Zim felt his heart leap to his throat.

_H-how did this happen? I didn't even know GIR knew how to contact the Tallest!_ Another thought came to him.

"_If you contact us we will activate the self destruct sequence in your base.._"

"GI-GIR, what are you _doing?_" He scrambled over to the SIR unit and snatched him up from the panel.

Red just sneered, baring his zipper like teeth. "We warned you, _Zim._"

Zim shook his head desperately. "N-no, my Tallest, please! He didn't know-! It wasn't his fault!"

Red snarled. "That doesn't matter, Zim, we've been waiting so long to push this button." He put his finger over the button.

Alarmed and terrified, he spun around to the SIR and floating moose. "GIR! MINIMOOSE! GET OUT OF THE BASE!"

GIR frowned. "But my taquitos are almost ready!"

Desperately, Zim reached up and roughly grabbed GIR by the arm, and Minimoose by the antler and dashed out of the house as quick as he could before the massive explosion knocked them both to the ground. Zim scrambled away from the range of the fire and pulled Minimoose and GIR out from the blaze.

GIR cringed, painfully getting to his feet and staggering beside Zim. He gazed up at his master; the irken looked more heartbroken than GIR thought possible. He face was so scrunched up; as if he would burst into tears at any moment.

"Our house..." Zim whispered, watching in anguish as his house burst up into flames that lit the night sky with an orange glow.

_(So, I figured I'd get up as many pre-written chapters as I can tonight. I have like 23. XD, and a few emotional and somewhat dark IZ mini fics I REALLY want to get up. Only problem is, at least 16 chapters of this fic will have to be up first if anyone were to understand the plot and additional characters. For those of you interested, my minifics are "IZ: Peril In Daycare", my most successful and well written one by far, "IZ: Nothing But Bad", for those of you that love Zim and GIR stuff; this is for you, and "IZ: Embers In Darkness." Find them all at .com_

_And seriously, I'd greatly appreciate someone telling me how to do the stupid line separating thing; I'm sick of seeing my writing so jumbled like this.)_


	4. Chapter 4

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be  
_Chapter 4 - Decisions, Decisions_

Zim sighed, shaking his head. "Now what do we do..?"

GIR gave Zim a hopeful look. "Can I go see if my taquitos are in dere?"

The irken flashed GIR a livid glare. "No, you may NOT, GIR!" He roughly grabbed the robot's arm as he rushed by him. "You aren't going anywhere near that fire!"

"But...my taquitos are burning!" GIR sniffled.

Zim gave a furious snarl. "_GIR!_ Your STYU-PID human food burning is NOT MY MAIN PRIORITY RIGHT NOW!" he screamed. "We have no house!"

"No house?" It seemed that only now did GIR realize the base was burning to the ground. "Oh no! But my room-! The kitchen-!" he exclaimed, starting to cry. "I gotta go back to it!" He started to run back, but Zim pulled him back again; this time not roughly.

"You can't go back, GIR..." he whispered. "It's gone."

"But it's our home!" the robot sniffled, his head lowered to the ground, on his knees and still held from the arm by his master. He got up, trying to struggle free again, but Zim pulled him back once more. "GIR, stop," he commanded softly.

At last, the SIR unit peered up at him. "Ah'm gonna miss it," he sniffled.

Zim just sighed. In all honesty, he would too. His base – especially his lab – was the only place he could go to escape the troubles of the outside world. Where he could have time to himself. And being surrounded with irken machinery made him feel more at home...not that irk was his home anymore.

"Put your disguise on," he said quietly to GIR.

Still crying, the SIR rubbed his blurred optics and slipped his doggy costume on. "Master, why aren't ya putting yers on?"

Zim didn't say anything; he only walked quietly down the street, back in the direction of Dib's house with his sad little sidekicks trailing silently behind him. He knocked on the door of Dib's house again, waiting patiently for him to come.

The human opened the door a crack; when he saw it was Zim, he unlatched the lock from the top and opened it. "What do you want now, Zim? ...! What the-? What HAPPENED to you?"

Parts of Zim's green skin was flayed and burnt, with light green blood trickling down his head. Minimoose was a little burnt too, as was GIR, but it was hard to tell with his disguise on.

Zim gave a cough, smoke still stuck in his chest. "My base was blown up."

Dib winced; from the looks of Zim, it was a bad explosion. "How'd THAT happen?"

"None of your business." Zim's tone was harsh.

Dib was getting really impatient by now. "Well, what do you want? Did you come over here to announce your base has been destroyed?"

"No, human!" he snapped. "I came here to give you something.."

The boy stepped back a little, worried. "G...give me what?"

Zim reached behind him, grasping GIR's arm and Minimoose's antler, pushing them up to Dib.

Dib stared at Zim like he was crazy. "What's this? You're giving me your robots?"

"Yes."

"B...but _why?_" Was Zim out of his mind?

The alien just sighed and shook his head. "I'm giving myself up to the authorities, and I need someone to look after them for me."

"But-"

"Both won't ever really do a single thing that's asked of them, but they are loyal..." He sighed again. "GIR has a weird obsession for your filthy earth tacos...and all types of filthy Mexican food.. And make sure you have plenty of rubber piggies for him to play with. And keep anything dangerous far out of his reach...he's like an earth toddler; he eats anything."

Dib cut him off. "Zim, seriously, I'm not taking your robots!"

"Well, I need someone to!" he snapped. "What about your father? He's a scientist, right? Can't he use his own robots to help him out?"

Dib rubbed his temples. "Why are you getting rid of them?"

Zim snarled, clenching his fists. "Stupid HYU-MAN! I told you already! I'm turning myself into the earth authorities and I don't want them to be experimented on!"

The earth boy rolled his eyes, about to close the door, but a sudden thought came to him.

_If Zim really isn't trying to take over earth, perhaps I could let him stay here so I can find out more about the irken empire so I can destroy Irk!_ It was _perfect._ He couldn't wait.

"Look, Zim, all the science labs in the city are closed at this time of night. You and your robots don't have a place to stay. Just stay here for the night."

Zim stared at Dib as if he had seven heads. "WHAT?" Despite his obvious anguish, his "Zimness" hadn't changed. "Zim would rather tear out his own tongue than stay in YOUR house! You speak NONSENSE, filthy EARTH MONKEY!"

Dib just rolled his eyes and shook his head. The audible sound of rain pitter-pattering could be heard. "Mmm...suit yourself, then, Zim.." He began to close the door, ushering both moose and robot inside.

The irken just stood stubbornly on the porch with crossed arms.

_Plip._

A single drop of rain landed on the alien's arm.

Zim bit his lip to keep back the agonized cry as he felt the water start to burn a patch in his skin.

_Plip, plip, plip._

"...ARGH! DIB!" He banged desperately on the door. "LET ME IN!"

The boy just smirked, keeping himself spread across the door to keep Zim from getting in; letting him suffer a little bit first.

"DIB!"

Chuckling, Dib abruptly opened the door and Zim yelped as he sprawled onto the floor, squirming uncomfortably from the pain on his skin.

"Master, yer all wet!" GIR exclaimed as he quickly draped a towel over the alien's shoulders and started rubbing him dry.

Growling in irritation, Zim knocked him aside and stood, brushing himself off and ringing the water out from his antenna. "Stupid earth rain..."

Dib just rolled his eyes. "I told you to come inside before it started...You just never listen, do you?"

Suddenly Zim recalled all the times people had tried to tell him his mission was nothing but a lie. "...I guess not," he said sorrowfully.

Dib raised his eyebrow, wondering why Zim had responded so painfully to the simple insult.

Zim sat shakily down on the couch.

"You're getting alien blood all over my couch," Dib grumbled. "I'll get some medicine and bandages for those wounds."

The irken winced. "Zim needs no medicine," he lied.

"Yes, you do," Dib sighed as he pulled a first aid kit out from under his kitchen sink.

Zim just grumbled angrily once more as Dib came over with the medical kit.

"Put it on," Dib commanded.

"No."

"Either you put it on or I make you stay outside."

Growling to no one in particular, Zim snatched up the kit and glared daggers at Dib, angry he had been defeated.

Dib just smirked, knowing he had won. "Bandage those wounds up. I don't want anymore alien blood on my couch."

Zim just rolled his eyes, yelping as the sting of the medication set in. "OW!"

The boy chuckled. "Oh, yes, medicine hurts by the way."

His snarls only being out of pain this time, the irken turned to his robot. "GIR, come here!" he barked.

The little SIR timidly walked up to him and stood in front of his master.

Zim reached back, grabbing a few cotton balls and soaking them with medicine, and gently applying them to the scorch marks on GIR's metallic body.

GIR whimpered; it seemed he could feel the sting of the medication as well.

"Hold still," Zim said, but his tone was more gentle this time.

The robot uncomfortably squirmed and writhed in pain as Zim carefully cleaned the wounds.

Dib remained silent for a little while. "So..care to tell me what happened yet? Why you're homeless and so...sad?"

The irken narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "SAD? Invaders don't feel sadness," he plainly stated as he began carefully wrapping up GIR's burns. "Sadness is weakness..." He turned to Minimoose and began tending to his injuries as well. "Zim feels..." He stopped. He wasn't really sure how he felt right now.

"You feel..?" Dib was waiting for him to continue.

"It's none of your business!" Zim snapped for the umpteenth time that night.

"It's my business when you're living under MY roof, ZIM!" he shot back. "Now TELL me!"

"I won't be living under your roof for long, DIB!" he snarled. "This is only for tonight! Then I'm turning myself in tomorrow!"

Dib just rolled his eyes. "Jeez...you're STILL set on that?"

"Yes!"

"Ugh..." Dib rubbed his temples. "Zim.. I'm going to find out sooner or later. You may as well just tell me now and save yourself the trouble."

The alien gritted his zipper like teeth, then he glared at the ground. "...It had been a while since I had contacted the Tallest.. I called them to tell them about my latest plan to take over your FILTHY human race...and they suddenly out of nowhere came out with the truth that they've apparently been suppressing from me.. A long time ago I had made the mistake when I became an invader in Impending Doom 1. I had been given my own giant death machine...but I started zapping things to the ground before I got off my own planet.."

"You idiot..."

"I killed many other irkens that day..my leaders were almost victims as well.. I was forever banished to Foodcourtia for almost eliminating our entire race. ..And I quit when I found out about Operation Impending Doom 2."

Dib shook his head. "You can't quit being _banished!_"

"I realize that!" Zim snapped. "Anyways...the Tallest sent me on a 'secret' mission to Earth and gave me.." He glanced at GIR. "An 'advanced' SIR unit."

"He doesn't seem very advanced to me...he seems stupid.."

"I realize that too. Or, at least, now I do. I never suspected my mission was a lie or that I had nothing but a piece of trash for a sidekick."

"Your mission was a lie..?"

Zim exhaled sharply, the pain in his heart becoming all to real again. "So, I never had a purpose...the Tallest lied to me... I'm no invader..." He sighed in anguish, antenna going back in agony. "I'm just a failure.."

Dib didn't know what to say; he just stared at both the heartbroken alien and robot with the slightest bit of concern. Mostly suspicion. "...You aren't...a TOTAL failure."

"Oh, DIB, SHOVE IT!" the irken yelled sharply, his face scrunched up in rage and grief. "I don't have anyone now! My leaders hate me! My race hates me!" He swallowed hard. "The invader's protocol may be 'invaders need no one'. But I needed my leaders... I needed the support of my race...but now who do I have..?" He closed his eyes. "It's all over..." Zim's eyes opened when he felt a small robotic claw grip his.

"Master, you still have me.." GIR said meekly, gripping his master's hand affectionately.

The irken blinked a little, staring into the understanding eyes of his "advanced" SIR unit. "GIR..." Although these two words had always been a hassle just to pass by his lips, for he thought it decreased his dignity as an invader, he had no trouble getting them out now as he gripped his loyal companion's claw tightly. "...Thank you.." He realized then that even though GIR was nothing other than trash put together, never did a thing that was asked of him, and was unbelievably _stupid_...for some reason, Zim was compelled to keep him and he wasn't sure why. GIR was probably the mot loyal companion you could get...Minimoose as well. Besides, they were both irken and reminded him of home...or at least...what _used_ to be his home..

_I can't turn myself in_, he realized.

The irken stood up proudly from his seat, standing with his chest out. "Dib, I'm NOT going to go to the earth scientists!"

"That so?" Dib tried to feign surprise, but truthfully he expected this as a last minute thing from his rival. "So what are you going to do instead?"

Zim narrowed his eyes with a growl, a revengeful look on his face. "I am going to take revenge...on the _Irken Empire._"

_(Ah, Zim, you are indeed quite blissfully stupid..*mumbles* Destroying your own race.. Yes, yes, blah, blah, I'm well aware that is quite a predictable and uninteresting thing to do, but trust me, this story is everything it's plot description says. There's many twists. Also, you will notice as I keep posting these premade chapters, the writing gets better. I have always been an okay author, but my writing has gotten a lot better this past year. Hang tight, things will soon start to heat up.)_


	5. Chapter 5

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be  
_Chapter 5 - Breakfast_

It was about six in the morning, and Dib was pondering some things in is mind.

_So, if Zim really is going to invade his own home planet, perhaps I can team up with him?_ The very though made his stomach do a flop. He and Zim...on the SAME team..?

_Drip._

Dib flinched as some sort of liquid fell onto his face. He wiped it away.

_Drip, drip._

Annoyed, the boy sat up, and stared over at a pair of glowing cyan eyes that was holding a waffle over his head. Well, that explained the sticky liquid on his face.

"GIR, what are you doing?" he asked groggily.

GIR stuck his tongue out adorably, holding up his fork full of waffles proudly. "I made WAFFLES!"

Dib sighed. "Thanks, but I'm not hungry.."

The moment GIR realized Dib didn't want to eat the delicious food he made, he emitted a loud earsplitting wail that nearly shattered Dib's windows. "_WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!_"

"AUGH!" Dib covered his ears, wincing. "Alright, alright! I'll eat them! I'll eat them!"

Instantly, GIR's crying ceased and the idiotic grin came back. "Okie-dokie!" He ran out of the room with the waffles.

Dib groaned, rubbing his head. "Man, how does Zim live with that thing?" He sat up, rubbing a sore ear as well, as he made his way down the stairs to the kitchen.

Zim was sitting at the table, poking at his waffles with his fork, still wearing that same devastated look on his face. That was no surprise to Dib. If his purpose was ripped right out of his hands, banished from his home, and having his house destroyed...he'd probably be a little upset as well.

"Morning," Dib said casually, pouring himself a glass of milk.

Zim raised an antenna in confusion, but didn't say anything and continued to poke at his food.

Dib took a look at the waffles; Zim had hacked them to little pieces with his fork. "Are you going to eat those?"

"No," Zim sighed. "I'm not really hungry." A shame; he really liked GIR's waffles.

"You better eat them," Dib warned, "or GIR will start screaming again." He shook his head. "That thing is SO annoying, Zim! How can you stand it?"

Zim growled and put down his fork. "Hey! Don't talk about GIR that way!" he snapped, leering at the human.

Dib rolled his eyes. "Why? You do!"

"That doesn't mean I want YOU to, you FILTHY earth SLUG!"

Dib muttered something and sat down to eat his waffles. "So, were you really serious about what you said last night? Trying to take over the Irken Empire, I mean?"

Zim narrowed his eyes. "What's it to ya?"

The earth boy shrugged. "It's just...weird, Zim. Irk is your home-"

"_Was_ my home," Zim interrupted. "I don't have a home now..."

"Well, you live on earth."

"I'd _hardly_ consider this horrible ball of DIRT to be a home, worm monkey.." he said darkly. "I don't see how GIR and Minimoose could have attached to it like they have..."

"It isn't as bad as you think, Zim."

"Peh. I beg to differ.."

Dib just sighed. "Sure, it has some flaws. But don't all planets?"

"Not irk..."

Sigh. "Are all irkens this conceited?"

"The majority of us, yes."

Suddenly, Dib saw a blur of metal and something was stuck to his face.

"Hi, big head!" GIR sang sweetly. "Ya like my waffles?"

"My head is NOT big!" Dib yelled, trying to pry the robot's death grip on his face.

Zim, however, just laughed. "Good one, GIR. It is exceptionally large, yes?" he smirked.

"NO IT IS NOT!"

Zim laughed again.

"GET OFF MY HEAD!" With a few hard yanks, the boy managed to pull the little SIR off him.

"WAFFLES!" GIR shouted, as if someone actually cared.

The irken just smirked again, motioning for the SIR unit to come over to him. "Eat up my waffles, GIR. Zim's belly doesn't feel like having them right now.."

Dib had a skeptical look on his face; as did Zim. Both were expecting GIR to start bawling.

The SIR unit tilted his head adorably. "...Okie-dokie!" And he quickly scampered over to Zim's chair, swallowing the entire plate of waffles whole.

Zim watched him with wide eyes. "That little robot's appetite scares me.." He looked over at Dib. "When time do we go to school?"

Dib gave him a look like he was crazy. "We _don't,_ Zim."

"Huh?"

"It's summer vacation."

"What's that?" Zim was hopelessly confused.

"Oh, for the love of.. It's when school kids get a few months of school. It's a _vacation._"

"A vacation?" he asked curiously.

Dib sighed. "Do you not know what a vacation is..?"

"Of COURSE I know!" Zim snapped. "What do you think I am? STOOPID? That's GIR's job!"

"Don't I know it..."

The irken sighed, angrily. "Anyways, how long do these...summer..THINGS..last?"

"About two months." Dib scratched the back of his head. "In this time..I...well..usually go out places...to the park and store and such." He glared at Zim. "And I need you to promise me that you won't try to blow up my house or anything while I'm gone."

Zim waved his hand dismissively. "Don't fret, Dib stink, Zim is no longer trying to take over your FILTHY planet anymore..I'm trying to destroy Irk now."

Dib nodded. "Good then, because I'm going out in a bit for some groceries."

"WHAT?"

The boy just chuckled. "I'm sorry, Zim, but we need food."

Zim's eye twitched. "Wha? N-no we don't! You can't leave me alone with HIM!" He pointed to GIR, who was sucking on his foot.

"I'm friends with a hamster!" the tiny SIR cheered.

Zim gave a long agonized whine as, with a smirk, Dib closed the door behind him.

_(Guh...well, sorry for the over due in the update. Like I said, everything is on DA, if you don't want to wait. I'm pretty sick right now..XD, and I needed something to do..)_


	6. Chapter 6

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be  
_Chapter 6 - A Typical Day With GIR_

Zim groaned, punching the wall. "Nooo..." The last thing he wanted was to spend an entire day with GIR; especially when he didn't have any excuses to not play with the SIR unit. "Dib, don't leave me," he pleaded to the door.

GIR blinked, peering at his master. "What'za matter, Master?" He was dripping with maple syrup from his antenna, to his little feet.

The irken shook his head, slowly. "GIR, what did you...?" He moaned. "How did you get so messy from waffles?"

_What am I thinking? It's _GIR _I'm talking about here._

GIR just licked his little robo claws free from syrup.

_He even has syrup over his eye?_

"GIR..." he moaned. "You're a MESS."

The SIR shrugged and giggled. "I taste sugary!"

"That's the LAST time I let you use maple syrup," Zim snapped. "Now clean yourself up."

The robot hurriedly grabbed a napkin off the table and proceeded to try and wipe off the sticky substance; but it clung to his metallic body.

Zim groaned again. "No, you need a complete bath.." And he did NOT want to be the one to give it. Grumbling angrily, the irken rummaged through Dib's cupboards and pulled out a large cooking pot.

Curious, GIR toddled over to his and peered in the pot, tears filling his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Zim griped.

"You gonna cook me?" GIR asked, sniffling. "Don' eat me, ah'm sorry I messed with da syrup.."

Zim's eyes went wide. "What? No! GIR! This is for a BATH!"

Instantly, the robot bounced. "Ouuuuu! A bath?"

"Yes! You're _filthy!_"

GIR pouted. "Ah'm not THAT dirty..." Even as he said it, maple syrup dripped down on the floor.

"You're getting syrup everywhere!" Zim barked. "You need a bath."

The little robot clapped joyfully. "I like baths! The squirrel and I both LOVE baths!"

Zim shook his head. "What are you _talking_ about?" But he had a feeling that even if GIR explained, he would never understand.

"THE SQUIRREL TOL' ME TO TAKE A BATH!" GIR giggled, licking more syrup.

The annoyed alien just rolled his eyes. "No, _Zim_ told you to take a bath.." He reached over and grabbed GIR by the arms, lifting him into the tub of soapy water. "Now hold still." He reached over, grabbing a sponge, soap, and a rubber piggy to keep GIR occupied while he cleaned him. The alien made a sick face, scrubbing off some syrup from GIR's head. "Gross..This is why I tell you you shouldn't eat human food. Especially since you get so messy.."

"But the squirrel commands me to eat messy foods!" GIR whined, twiddling with his rubber pig's ear.

Growling something under his breath, Zim proceeded to scrub the syrup off the robot's head and antenna. "Now hold _still_, I MEAN it." The reason Zim was repeating this was because he knew what was going to happen next... Taking a deep breath, the irken moved the sponge to GIR's stomach. It may have been made of metal, but it didn't seem to have any nerve endings.

"EHEHE!" GIR shrieked, splashing and kicking in the water; successfully soaking his master. "NOO!"

Zim flinched as the soapy water hit him and wiped some away from his eyes, thankful he had slathered himself in paste beforehand. "GIR," he moaned. "Sit STILL." He continued to scrub the SIR unit.

"NOO!" GIR kicked and squealed. "IT TICKLES!"

How a robot was ticklish was beyond Zim. "Hold still!" Zim snapped, quickly becoming impatient as he cleaned him.

"EEEEHEHEH!"

"Well, you shouldn't have gotten any on your belly then!" He grabbed a hold of GIR's little foot, scrubbing the syrup off the bottom of it; producing louder squeals.

"EEEE!"

Zim raised the robot's arm for better coverage to keep from being soaked...well, more than he already was. "GIR!" he yelled. "You're DRENCHING ZIM!" After a few moments of getting soaked and listening to GIR's piercing squeals, the irken was finally able to lift GIR out of the tub and throw a towel on his head. "Dry off," he growled, and went to get a towel for himself.

GIR quietly dried himself – and his pig – off and turned to Zim, who was also rubbing himself dry.

"I swear it's like I'M the one that just had a bath," Zim growled; for he was dripping more than his robot.

The little SIR just giggled innocently like he usually did and looked at his master. "Yer antenna is'all drippy like!"

"Gee, I wonder why?" Zim asked sourly and sarcastically as he sat over on the couch.

_Dib better be back soon.._

GIR sat up on the couch with him, leaning affectionately against Zim's side.

"Um, do you need something?" Zim asked awkwardly, inching away a little.

"Nooo...jus' snugglin'."

Rolling his eyes, the alien pushed the tiny SIR off him and to the ground. "GIR, go...play with your giant squirrels."

"Giant squirrels?" GIR squealed, and went darting out of the room. "Where?"

Zim sighed and rubbed his temples. "Dib, if you don't get back here within the next five minutes I will DESTROY you.."

A few more minutes later, he felt something heavy hanging from his head. "GIR!" he growled. "Get off my head!"

"But I wanna play!" the SIR pouted, tugging playfully at his master's antenna.

Zim snarled, about to go on another pointless rant, instead he simply shook his head and decided to give in. "Fine...what do you want to play?"

GIR was quiet for a moment, then he reached into his head and grabbed a rubber ball, tossing it towards his master.

Zim caught it with lightning reflexes, staring down at it for a moment, and then tossing it back with a dour look on his face.

GIR giggled, catching it in his little robot claws, and throwing it back; it hit Zim in the eye.

The irken winced, covering his eye. "GIR," he growled.

"Sorry..."

Zim just smirked and eyed the ball, before abruptly hurling the ball in the SIR's face.

GIR gave a yelp, toppling back on the ground, the ball bouncing off his head and back into Zim's hand.

Zim chuckled. "Invader reflexes.." He bounced it off the wall.

"Ouuuuu...teach me!" GIR said eagerly, bouncing in the spot.

"..." Zim tossed the ball again; it smacked Gir in the optics again. "No, no!" he said, shaking his head. "You have to be quicker than that! The moment it's thrown, reach out your claw to grab it."

GIR nodded, tossing it back to Zim, who grabbed it the moment it was thrown. "Now try it." He hurled the ball as hard as he could, making it whiz through the air.

GIR leaped up in the air and opened his head, catching the ball in it.

"Ehh..." The irken showed a glimmer of a smile. "Very...good..!"

The robot clapped joyfully. "Yaaaaaaay!"

Zim smiled again, a little more.

_It's amazing...no matter what that little robot goes through, it barely fazes him. He somehow finds a way to always be happy and so full of life.._ His antenna drooped. _I wish I could do that.._ He noticed GIR giving him a concerned look and quickly tried to bring up a subject before the robot questioned why he was sad. "GIR, why don't we see what Dib has in the fridge?"

"FOOD!" GIR squealed, scurrying to the kitchen. "What shoul' we eat?"

"Whatever doesn't burn me...or morph into my skin.."

GIR opened the freezer. "How 'bout some poop cream?"

"SOME WHAT? Oh...ice cream.. Sure, give me a scoop."

"Okie-dokie!" GIR sang, plopping a giant scoop into his master's bowl.

Zim cringed back in disdain at the sight of the quivering brown poop-like blob. "Eugh..." Very reluctantly, he stuck the spoon in his mouth and cringed as the liquid dripped down his throat. It wasn't particularly tasty, but it was better than most earth foods; at least this one didn't burn his insides.

"Mmmmmm..." GIR purred, ingesting both the ice cream and the spoon.

"GIR! You aren't supposed to eat the spoon!" Zim sighed.

"But i's also tasty..." GIR whined, nibbling on the container of ice cream. "Yum!"

Sighing again, the irken finished his bowl and set it in the sink along with GIR's. "Dib will be home soon."

"Do ya think he brought tacos?" GIR asked, bouncing again.

Zim rolled his eyes, his usual annoyance setting in. "You've had enough to eat!" he snapped.

"Aw man..."

Zim replaced the chewed up carton of ice cream back in the fridge. From the corner of his eye, he spotted someone walking up to the house. "GIR, it's the Dib!" He smirked. "I have an idea..." Zim sneakily made his way back to the living room, keeping out of range from the window as he kicked GIR's ball up into his hand. "Watch this.."

The doorknob rattled for a few moments; obviously Dib fumbling to get his key in the lock. The moment he swung the door open, Zim threw GIR's ball like a home run in a baseball game. It knocked Dib backwards, sending all his plastic bags crashing to the ground, and sending Dib tumbling back into the dirt.

"_AUGH!"_

_(And it just goes to show what happens when you're alone with GIR...XD)_


	7. Chapter 7

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be  
_Chapter 7 - Differences And Similarities_

"Why is there water _all over_ my kitchen?" Dib demanded, crossing his arms to both alien and robot.

Zim sighed, pointing accusingly to his SIR unit. "It was HIS fault!" he snapped.

The robot pouted. "I'was not!"

"You kept splashing!"

"I couldn' help it, it tickled!"

Dib moaned, rubbing the sides of his head. "Enough! Man, you two fight like kids.."

Zim growled, flicking an antenna in irritation. "We do NOT!"

Dib rubbed his head again; he found he'd been doing that a lot since these three came along. "Seriously, enough," he growled.

Zim gave a dark hiss, sneering at the boy. "Don't you tell ZIM what to do, you filthy earth monkey!"

"Would you quit calling me that?" Dib shot back. "Seriously, Zim, you're forced to live on earth now so ACCEPT it! You'll be surrounded by humans and you LIVE WITH ONE."

"Don't remind me!" Zim snarled. "And I'll never accept the fact I have to live with you...moldy monsters!"

Dib raised an eyebrow. "Wha...?"

_Moldy monsters..?_ Hmm, THAT was a new one.

He forced himself to calm down and shook his head. "Look, _Space boy_, the sooner you learn to live with the fact that this is your life from now on, the sooner you'll be able to live out your life in peace."

"_I'll never be able to live peacefully on this planet!_" the irken snarled. His antenna drooped a little. "I can only live peacefully in one place..."

"...Irk," Dib finished for him; his tone was a little more gentle. "But you can't go back there..."

"I don't need a reminder!" Zim yelled. "Zim is FULLY aware of what the Tallest said to him!" His heart constricted at the memory. "..." He looked down; pain in his eyes. "...Fully aware..."

Dib watched him, he could see Zim's hurt and figured badgering him wouldn't do much good. "Look, I have to go do some things in my room..." He hesitated. "Are you going to be alright on your own for a while?"

Zim hissed again; this time out of irritation. "It's _GIR_ you should be asking that to, Dib stink!" he spat, and eyed his incompetent SIR unit, that was trying to suck the maple syrup out of the bottle. "GIR! I said no more syrup!"

"Aw man!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dib sighed, shaking his head as he made his way upstairs and to his room. "How am I ever going to learn to live with those two? The moose is fine...he just squeaks and floats through the house...But that ROBOT is so ANNOYING and he eats EVERYTHING! And Zim is...well...Zim... And I am...talking to myself again...oh well." He sat down in his computer chair and turned the monitor on. "It's been a while since I've contacted the Swollen Eyeballs. They must be suspicious by now." He turned on the screen.

A dark and shadowy figure appeared on the screen. "Agent Darkbooty here..." he boomed. "Oh, Mothman! Goodness, it's been a few days; which is unusual for you."

"Yes.." Dib said awkwardly. "These past few days have been a little weird.."

Darkbooty nodded. "So I've seen. The surveillance cameras in your house have shown that-"

"Um, I called to tell you something about the alien."

The agent didn't seem the slightest bit surprised. "Oh, do tell, Mothman."

Dib hesitated. "...Umm...the alien surrendered..he and his robots returned to their home planet. I haven't seen him in a while; but he told me he was going back."

Darkbooty was still for a moment; his eyes narrowed. "...I see," he said quietly, but Dib didn't like his tone; it was so cold and dark, as if he had suddenly completely turned on him. "So, they left..."

"Yeah.." Dib's tone now held a nervous uncertainty. "The earth is safe.." He attempted a smile.

Darkbooty nodded. "...I'll inform the other agents. Darkbooty, out." And the monitor turned off.

Dib pushed back the monitor and got out of the chair; by now it was nearly pitch black outside and pouring rain. "...Better go see what the dear little annoying twerps are up to," he gritted out, walking back downstairs. Strangely enough, the only noise that Dib could hear was the gentle pitter-patter of rain on the window pane. That was unusual. There wasn't the sound of any crashing, or the sound of metallic robot feet running over the floor, or GIR's shrieks and Zim yelling at him. ...Nothing. Concerned, Dib rushed downstairs. "Zim? GIR?" Were they outside? He peered in the kitchen. Nothing. He checked the bedrooms. Nothing. Finally, he checked the living room. Zim sat there, scrunched up to the back of the couch, slightly balled up. His antenna were back and he had a pure look of devastation on his face, as he gaze listlessly outside at the rain.

_He's so homesick,_ Dib realized. No matter how much Zim would deny it, it was clear how upset he was. And Dib felt the very slightest pang of guilt when he realized the sudden sadness had probably been triggered by Dib harshly telling the alien how life would be from now on. He suddenly realized something.

_We're so much alike._ He was the laughing stock at school, the defective of the family, the one no one would listen to or give him a chance. Not even his own father supported him. Zim was the laughingstock on irk, the defective of his entire race, no one would listen to him or give him a second chance either. _We're enemies...but we're a version of each other. It's like looking at me..._ He had always felt he and that alien had some sort of a connection, and he could finally pin-point on what it was. _So that's what it is..._

Around this point, GIR had toddled in. He peered up at his master with a worried look, and instantly an adorable and sweet smile came to his face. "Awww..somebody needs a hug!" He clung himself to Zim's leg, rubbing his face against him affectionately.

The irken peered down at him, and wordlessly grabbed his arm, pulling the SIR onto the couch beside him; going back to stare at the rain. "GIR, I don't know if I can do this.." he said softly.

"Do what, Master?"

"Live on this ball of filth. We've been trying to conquer it...but now I have to reside with it as a HOME? It's not my home!" He clenched his fists. "Irk is! I'm an irken! I'm NOT a human! So, I made a few mistakes, but why can't I still go home?" He swallowed hard. "...Being stuck here is the worst punishment I think the Tallest could possibly give... The only way I'll ever be able to see home again...is through a telescope." He peered up at the stars; they were cloaked with a cloudy veil. "...The only way I'll be able to see space is if I look at the stars..."

GIR didn't know what to say to that. He was fine with living on earth, only because he never knew Irk as a home. He had left it to quickly. He only knew Irk from what his master had told him. "Can' we take a vacation dere or somethin'?"

Zim shook his head. "If we did that...we'd be destroyed for leaving the planet."

"...Tha's mean..."

"It is entirely," Zim agreed.

The SIR unit watched the rain as well for a moment, then another thought came to him. "How come the tall guys boomed our home?"

The alien sighed heavily. "That was my fault, GIR. I should have told you not to contact them." He hesitated. "...But I never expected that you'd call to yell at him." He shook his head. "I _still_ can't believe you _did_ that." He heard a small "plip" and turned, sighting tears streaming down GIR's cheeks. His eyes widened, a little alarmed. "GIR ,what's wrong?"

"I'm the reason our home went boom..?" the robot sniffled.

Zim sighed again; a regretful sigh. "I should have told you what the Tallest said.."

GIR still had tears streaming down his cheeks, his antenna drooping.

"Don't cry..." He laid a single hand on the SIR unit's shoulder; the most comfort he was willing to give.

GIR scrubbed away the tears from his eyes and peered out the window at the rain with Zim. "So, are the Tall guys da bad guys now?"

Zim nodded painfully. "Yes... Now Irk is our enemy.."

"So, the humans are our friends now?"

The alien shot him a glare. "NO, GIR," he growled. "The humans are NOT our friends and never will be! I REFUSE to ever be friends with these...disgusting meat filled creatures."

"...I like meat."

"Good, you can eat them," Zim said sourly. "I'll never stop hating humans."

"What about Big head?"

"Dib? Peh, he's nothing more than an allie, but I still hate him...his head is TOO darn large."

"Mmhmm..." Gir agreed. "So...earth is our home now?"

Zim sighed again, as much as it pained him to say it... "...Yes..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(And two enemies see just how alike their lives really are...)


	8. Chapter 8

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be

_Chapter 8 - Injury_

Zim sat awake on the couch. It was the middle of the night and he just couldn't sleep. Or rather, he wasn't used to sleeping. This time of night he'd be checking in on planets with his telescope, or preparing experiments, or his next plan for world domination. But now, he had no lab; not even his telescope. It was a good thing he didn't have his telescope though; he'd be too tempted to look at Irk and the Massive, and that would make him way too depressed. The irken gazed up into the night sky, it was still raining hard. He could hear the sound of contented snores coming from GIR's direction - who was sprawled over the side of the couch. Minimoose was on his back, feet up in the air on the arm of the couch.

_They look so peaceful...why can't I be like that?_ He couldn't sleep no matter how hard he tried. He had slept before, just rarely. But he was way too upset to sleep right now.

"Nmmm...tacos.." GIR mumbled subconsciously. "Come...to ma...mouf'..."

Zim rolled his eyes; GIR was dreaming about food again. He narrowed his eyes in jealousy. _It's not fair! Why can't I be like them? Not having a care in the world? Whatever comes his way, he can somehow always handle it! It doesn't matter to him that he's stuck here forever! ...I just want to go home.._

The SIR unit sucked on his foot. "Taco..."

Zim rolled his eyes. It was going to be a very long night.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dib yawned as he poured a glass of milk. "So, how did you two sleep last night?"

"GOOOOOD!" GIR chirped.

"Bleh.." was Zim's dour response.

Dib chuckled, awkwardly. "Ehehe..that bad, huh?"

The irken narrowed his eyes at his SIR unit. "STOOPID GIR kept kicking me through the night!" Zim growled. "Your couch is too small!"

Dib rolled his eyes. "It's the perfect size, Zim! You're puny!" He stopped when he saw Zim's antennae go back a little.

_Ah, crud..._ It never occurred to him that Zim would be upset about his size. "..Let me rephrase: I don't have any bigger couches around. You and your robots are going to have to make do with what you have."

Zim cursed something irken under his breath and shook his head. "This is stupid.."

GIR just gurgled something; his head was in his cereal bowl.

Minimoose was sipping milk with a curly straw. "Squeee..."

GIR lifted his head; his face was dripping with milk. "Can I go pway outside?" he asked Zim excitedly.

Zim rolled his eyes, wiping GIR's messy face with a cloth. "Fine, GIR, just be back by lunch.."

"Okie-dokie!" The robot cheerfully scurried out the door.

Dib chewed thoughtfully on his cereal. "So..what was the real reason that you didn't sleep?"

The irken was silent for a moment. "...I don't know what you mean.."

"Last night? I heard you and GIR talking.."

Zim snarled, hissing at the human. "EAVESDROPPER!"

Dib winced. "Zim, I didn't mean-"

"You listened in!" Zim snarled. "I KNEW I couldn't trust you, you FILTHY HUMAN!"

Dib sighed. "Zim, SHUT UP!"

The irken narrowed his eyes and quieted.

"I never meant to listen in, really..."

Zim regarded him with a suspicious glare.

"I was just wondering where you were and I heard you and GIR talking.."

Zim stayed silent.

"You really miss Irk, don't you?"

The irken narrowed his eyes again, looking down, his antenna falling back in sadness. "...Of course," he said softly. "If you were banished from your home, wouldn't you miss it?"

Dib sighed, his shoulders falling. "Not only my home, but my family."

Zim shrugged. "Hmm. Yeah. See, Zim has no family; only a home."

The boy looked at the alien peculiarly. "Yes, you do." He looked over to Minimoose's general direction, and looked outside where GIR was playing somewhere.

One antenna of Zim's went up in confusion as he looked skeptically at his sidekicks. "What, them?..." He was quiet for a moment, staring thoughtfully at the little moose and back at the window. "...Hm. Well, I...have grown to tolerate them, if that's what you mean."

"Yeah, that's what I meant..." You could hear the eyeroll.

Zim looked around a little, confused. "Where is your male parental unit, and your scary sister anyways?"

Dib rolled a penny over the table, a dour look on his face. "Vacation...I didn't go because I thought someone needed to be here to stop you when you launched a plan for world domination.." He sighed heavily. "I should have gone..." He realized something. "Of course if I had gone, you'd have nowhere to stay."

"Mmm..I may have just taken Minimoose and GIR to a safe place, and then taken myself into the earth authorities."

Another thought came to Dib. "Well, where would you have taken them?"

"As long as GIR stayed in his dog suit I'd be able to pull off the fact that I was giving away my puppy. Someone would've taken him; he's cute enough.."

Dib stared at him. When was the last time he had heard Zim use that word before? "What about Minimoose? How would you have been able to give away a floating moose?"

Zim smirked a little. "Dib, your people are stupid. I could just tell a human child that he's a stuffed animal. I don't think they'd be smart enough to realize he floats." He chuckled.

"Hmm. Can't argue with that." After all, all this time that Zim had been here, the class was stupid enough to believe that Zim's green skin was a skin condition. And that having a green robot dog was normal. He looked over at Zim, who was slumped over the couch, obviously bored out of his mind. "Heyyyy...Zim, could you help me make lunch? It's pizza."

Zim's face screwed up. "Pizza? Gross! I hate pizza!"

"Don't you hate all earth food? And anyways, this is for GIR and Minimoose."

Zim sighed. Making gooey and gross pizza was the last thing he'd be doing on a typical earth Wednesday, but he had no lab, no plans, no mission. "...Yeah...sure.."

"Good. Start the dough. I just have a few things to do," Dib called down as he made his way up the stairs.

"Uh, one question," Zim said slowly, eying the ingredients. "How do I make pizza?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Agent Mothman here," Dib whispered into the mouthpiece of his monitor. "Darkbooty, are you here?" It didn't usually take this long for him to respond... "Darkbooty?" Dib pressed the button again. "Are you there, Darkbooty?" The screen stayed dark.

_That is..I believe the first time Darkbooty has never answered.._ It was very strange. Was he sick? Is that why he didn't answer? Was either Dib's or his monitor broken?

"Dib stink!" A gruff voice broke his thoughts. "Your pizza is ready!"

Dib turned towards the door. "Oh, alright. I'll be there in a minute. Get GIR while you wait."

Zim muttered something angrily, as he stormed towards the door. "GIR!" he barked out the door. "Lunch is ready!" He expected GIR to come rocketing up the steps, headbutting him as he did so, but there was no response what-so-ever.

_Irk. Just how far out did he go, anyway?_

"GIR!" Zim yelled again. "LUNCH! PIZZA! COME! NOW!"

Still no response.

The irken gritted his teeth and his antenna frizzed in anger. "GIR! OBEY YOUR MASTER!" _For once..._

Silence, except for the chirping birds.

Snarling angrily, Zim threw on his wig and contacts, storming through the streets. "GIR!" he ordered harshly. "GET OVER HERE!"

Still no response.

"..." Zim was getting worried. "GIR, it's lunch! That's your favorite!" The irken walked slowly around the streets, making sure he checked everywhere. "GIR?"

"Nnn.." came a frail little whimper close by.

Zim recognized the whimper instantly; his heart constricted. "G...GIR?"

"Nnn...!" There it was again; it was louder this time.

The alien rushed frantically through the streets. "GIR!" He passed by an alley...and stopped dead in his tracks. His hand flew to his mouth in horror.

There, curled up, whimpering and shaking feebly in the back of the alley was a tiny dirty green ball of fluff.

"GIR?" Zim ran up to the SIR unit, falling on his knees beside him, and gently slipping the dog hood off. What he saw, made his irken pupils dialate nearly to the size of his green head.

Someone had done a _number_ on him. One optic was seriously cracked; bits and pieces falling. He had cracks and dents all in him, one arm was nearly ripped out, and the little screen on his stomach was badly cracked too.

Nothing Zim could say described just how perplexing the sight was. And seeing his little robot sidekick that was always so bright and full of energy reduced to THIS...was also rather disturbing. "GIR, who did this to you?"

His response was only a painful wail, as GIR continued to shake, tears going down his cheeks. Whatever had happened to him had obviously scared the wits out of the poor thing.

Zim's mouth creased in sympathy. "Alright, alright, no need for questions now.."

The robot's whimpering became louder and he opened his eyes, reaching up to his master with the sad "pick me up" face, that - although he'd never admit it - melted the remnants of Zim's heart.

The irken reached down, picking GIR up as gently as he could and situating him into a half sitting up, half cradled position in his arms. He stood up and began running back to Dib's house, a raging furnace growing inside him.

_Whoever did this to him will PAY..._ He would rip off their limbs one by one and mount them on a plaque on his wall. Slamming the door open, Zim ran to the kitchen as fast as he could.

Dib growled. "It's about time! The pizza is getting co-" He gasped, dropping a plate when he sighted GIR limply hanging his head over Zim's arm. "What on EARTH happened to GIR? Is he dead?"

"Never mind the questions!" Zim snapped. "Just help me!"

Dib scurried up to Zim rapidly and helped him lower the tiny robot to the couch. "Do you have any idea what happened to him?"

Zim shook his head as he carefully slipped GIR's costume off. "No...but I think someone tried to disassemble him." His antenna drooped. "I-I don't have my lab! My tools! I can't fix him without my lab!"

"Zim, _relax_, you can use my dad's."

The irken gently picked GIR up again. "...Th-thank you, human." He hurried downstairs.

Dib just stood there, trying to figure out what had all happened here. "...Disassembled..." he muttered. "It had to be someone that knew he was a robot..." It dawned on him. He gasped. _"Agent Darkbooty.."_

(What a horrible person Darkbooty is, eh?)


	9. Chapter 9

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be

_Chapter 9 - Fake Betrayal _

But _how? WHY?_ It didn't make sense. GIR never did anything wrong. How could Darkbooty even realize that Dib had been lying about Zim and GIR going back to Irk? None of this made sense. But whatever had happened, Dib knew this: that GIR having to suffer the consequences was completely unfair.

"OW!" Dib heard a wail coming from the basement. He hurried down the stairs to see Zim trying to restrain a sobbing and squirming GIR.

"GIR, hold still!" Zim pleaded, trying to fix the dents.

"It hurts!" the SIR sobbed, squirming more.

The irken sighed, finally managing to get rid of some of the dents and fix the cracks. "I know it hurts, but it shouldn't for too much longer." He knew that was a total lie; with the look of the damage, GIR would probably be hurting for a while to come. "How about later tonight we go and get...a taco..or something?" Zim asked hopefully. He knew that a taco or one of GIR's favorite things would be his only chance at calming the robot down.

GIR sniffled, but he didn't say anything as Zim picked him back up again and carried him back upstairs.

Dib had made sure to stay as far as he could. He had a feeling that Zim would somehow find out that Darkbooty was behind all this. If Zim found that out, there was no telling what kind of fight and or huge battle would erupt. Anyways, that wasn't really Dib's main concern now. Right now, he had to find out just how Darkbooty figured out Zim and GIR's where-a-bouts.

"Agent Darkbooty, answer me _NOW!_" Dib yelled, surprised by how angry he was.

The screen flashed once, and although Dib couldn't see Darkbooty's face, he could tell he was smirking. "Yes, Agent Mothman? How are you today?"

"Don't give me that!" Dib snapped. "I know it was you that hurt the robot!"

"You must be mistaken, Mothman...You see, you told me that the aliens had gone back home."

Dib's shoulders fell a little. "Well..."

"You were lying!" Darkbooty snapped. "I know you were!"

"How?" Dib challenged.

"Next time you decided to deny that you have extraterrestrials living at your house, turn off the surveillance cameras."

_Ah, crud...I knew there was something I forgot_. "Oh..."

Darkbooty sat back a little in his chair. "So, you're friends with the aliens now?"

Dib shook his head. "That's not it at all! We are on the same side now though. Both of us are targeting the race that's trying to take over the entire universe!"

"What about your plans of doing an autopsy on him?" Darkbooty asked, skeptically.

Dib hesitated, both had promised not to try to destroy each other anymore. "I need Zim to get to Irk! The race that's trying to kill us all! So I can't dissect him..."

"I see...you've turned on The Swollen Eyeball Network then."

Dib was horrified. "What? No! No, I just can't turn Zim in because-"

"The Swollen Eyeball does NOT tolerate lying traitors, Dib!" Darkbooty snarled.

Dib, however, just froze. He hadn't been called "Dib" by Darkbooty since he was just a little kid, and just joining the agency.

"I'll inform the other agents that you are no longer part of the association." The screen faded to black.

Dib stood there in complete devastation. He had been a member of the agency since he knew aliens existed; it had been such a big part of his life. Now, it would be nothing more than a distant memory. Silently, he walked back down the stairs and to the living room where Zim was knelt down in front of the couch, attempting to restrain and calm his SIR unit as he applied the stinging medicine.

"NO! NO! I don' want it!" GIR wailed. "WAAAAH!"

Zim grunted angrily and worriedly, pinning GIR's arms to his sides so he couldn't hit anymore. "GIR! Hold still!" Zim ordered harshly.

GIR flinched and cried harder at the shout. He normally ignored Zim yelling at him, but it was hard to do when he was already so vulnerable, and in no condition to get yelled at.

Zim saw this. "I didn't mean to yell," he sighed. "But seriously, stay still. You're making this very difficult." He pressed him gently into the sofa. "Now, don't move. I need to tie off the bandages."

Dib winced at GIR's loud painful wails. He couldn't help but feel a slight pang of guilt. If he hadn't lied, GIR would never have gotten beaten up. He could see a mixture of emotions flickering across Zim's face; ,most noticeable, sympathy, anger, sadness, wit, and pity.

"How's it going? "Dib asked softly, walking up to them.

Zim shook his head, sickened. "Whoever did this to him I will personally _destroy_."

"Didn't you tell me that you weren't going to try and destroy mankind anymore?"

"Not when GIR could have been killed.."

"Can't argue with that," Dib muttered. "How bad are the injuries?"

"He has major dents, and one optic was nearly shattered. For a moment when I saw him, I didn't think I'd be able to fix him.." He sighed. "But he'll be in pain for a while.."

Dib frowned. "How can he hurt if he has no nerves?"

"You know how you humans have nerves?" Zim asked. "It's the same thing with robots. Their wires act like nerves, and when cut can spew like human SMELLY blood. If drained enough, they can shut down...or die as you humans put it."

"Were any of his wires cut?"

"Not cut, but a few were tangled pretty badly and painfully...it's no wonder he was crying so hard." Zim shook his head. "I can't see how anyone would want to hurt someone as innocent as GIR. As totally stupid and insane as he is, he's perfectly innocent; at least to the humans. To ME and my PLANS however...eh.."

Dib chuckled, but it was soon replaced with a pang of guilt.

The irken reached into his pak and pulled out a small package. "GIR...would you like a licky stick?" It was his very last supply of licky sticks, the last he'd ever get from Irk. But he knew that if anything would cheer the little SIR up, it would be food.

The SIR simply peered up at his master, and, to both Zim and Dib's shock, turned the other way, sniffling. "No..."

One of Zim's eyes twitched in shock and confusion. "What? You DON'T want a snack?"

"No!" He started crying again.

"Okay, okay, calm down." Zim sat on the couch beside him, eying the damaged robot with more concern than Dib had ever seen. "He's never turned down food before.."

Dib sighed, feeling even guiltier. "He must be in too much pain.."

Zim nodded in sad agreement. "The wires have been untangled, but a few were punctured, plus, his eye and antenna are broken..."

Dib cringed; it sounded so painful. He couldn't take this guilt anymore and needed to get away from the sight of the injured SIR. "Well, it's getting late. I should be heading to bed. Maybe GIR should sleep too. That rumble he had may have taken it out of him."

Zim stared over at the SIR, who was laying limply against the pillow. "Mmmm..I'm going to stay here for a bit." He had to find out who had beaten his sidekick and why.

"Alright, good night," Dib yawned, pretending to be tired, as he walked quickly up the stairs.

GIR gave another frail little whimper, sitting up enough to get onto his belly and feebly crawl into his master's lap.

The irken just sat there, awkwardly. GIR normally didn't get half a second to be in his lap; Zim normally pushed him off right away with his intolerance for sentiment instantly kicking in. But Zim knew if he pushed GIR off while he was in such a state, the robot could get even more severely damaged – not to mention hurt feelings. Considering the circumstances, Zim made an exception just this one time.

"It hurts..." GIR whimpered. "It hurts...a lot.."

Zim's antennae went back at that, and he shut his eyes. "I know.."

The robot shook a little in Zim's lap, stopping only when the irken lay a single hand on his head.

Zim sighed; a heavy painful sigh. "GIR...I'm sorry.."

The SIR unit slowly lifted his tear stained metallic face to look up at his master. Even with his tiny little brain and inconceivably low IQ, he had enough common sense to be able to comprehend the fact that those two words were barely heard from his master's lips. "What?"

Zim grimaced. Apologies weren't something that came naturally to him; he hated to apologize, to admit he was wrong, but he felt this was due for one. "I never meant to let the humans hurt you... If I had known there was someone out there with the intention of hurting you, I would have never let you go out by yourself.."

The little robot moved into him a little. "Master, it's not yer fault.."

"It is." Zim sighed again. "I forgot that some people on this planet can be just as ruthless as invaders...and would hurt even someone innocent that didn't do a thing to deserve it..."

"Like you used ta' be?"

Zim's eyes were wide for a split second, then he nodded. "...Yes.." He still hated Earth more than anything, but realized when talking about the monsters that had harmed GIR, he was making every possible reference to himself. "Could you tell me who hurt you?"

But GIR was just sniffling again, curling up into Zim as much as he could, snuggling into the irken's warm uniform.

_Irk, this is so uncomfortable.. _Zim inwardly groaned. Being this close contact with someone for this long made him feel very paranoid. Peering down at the SIR unit, Zim saw that GIR was asleep, and began slowly picking him up from underneath and placing him back on the pillow. However, right when he turned to get up, GIR wrapped his arms around Zim's arm, nuzzling it and subconsciously muttering, "don' go..."

Zim gave him a confused look and rolled his eyes with a slightly irritated sigh. _Geez, no chance, huh? _He sat back down. _I'll stay with you...just for tonight, maybe... _He laid his head back against the couch and slowly drifted off into a restless sleep.

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_(If there's one thing you people gotta learn about me is that I LVOE THE ZIM AND GIR FAMILY FLUFF MOMENTS, m'kay? And there is plenty in this fic, and my mini ones. I can't post my mini ones until at least chapter 19 of this fic is posted. You can see them all on my deviant account, though. OH, also, see this sweet picture a dear friend made for me based off the Zim and GIR moment on the couch. .com/favourites/#/d2d00g2)_


	10. Chapter 10

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be

_Chapter 10 - All Revealed _

Dib was awaken at around five in the morning, to the sound to some loud crying from his living room. "Nnn..?" he mumbled subconsciously. Who on earth was that so early in the morning? Groggily, he made his way slowly downstairs, leaning on the banister for some support and slumped to the living room. His black sythe hair was lopsided slightly and a few bangs stuck up strangely. "Zim?"

The alien looked EXHAUSTED. If ever an irken was capable of getting tired, this time was probably a first for him. His antennae were frizzed in stress, and his eyes were droopy and half open. He moaned when he saw Dib. "Dib...I swear to Irk...it's like taking care of a smeet."

Ah, so it had been GIR crying.

"So, he's still in pain?" Dib asked, eying the tiny SIR.

"He will be for a while," came Zim's tired response. "A long time... Once he's healed, I'm going to personally hunt down who beat him up..like I said."

Dib cringed. "I thought you wanted to destroy Irk!"

"I do...but I want to KILL whoever hurt GIR."

"That's fair." Dib took a step back; he didn't like the freaky look on Zim's face. "So..you're mad?"

"Just a little," came the dark and hissing reply. "Is it visible?" he growled.

"A little," Dib chuckled nervously. He peered up at his clock. Around now, the agents had probably just gotten to work. Perhaps he could call them and straighten things out.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Agent Darkbooty!" Dib whispered urgently. "Darkbooty! Please answer me!"

The screen remained black and blank.

"Darkbooty!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I want a hot doggie," GIR sniffled, peering up at his master.

Zim's eyes went slightly wide. "Oh, you're finally hungry?" That was actually a relief to him. He was worried GIR's appetite wouldn't come back. "Alright then, perhaps I could go see if the Dib has any...hot..._worm_...dogs.."

"Worm dogs?" GIR licked his metal lips. "That sounds even nummier!"

Zim chuckled slightly. "We had something like worm dogs back in Foodcourtia, only they were called Vort dogs."

GIR started to ask if his master could get him some, but knew asking something from space would probably really upset him. "Yum.."

Zim gently set the robot on the far side of the couch and stood up, walking up the stairs. "Dib stink! I need to ask you something.."

"Please," came a voice from Dib's room, "you have to listen to me."

Zim quirked an eyebrow. "Heh? ...Alright," he griped. "But then you have to listen to me."

"I never betrayed you!"

"Wha..?"

"You've always been like a friend to me!"

Was Dib losing his mind. "I _have?"_

"You're the only one that ever gave me a chance when no one else would! And the only one that didn't think I was crazy."

"Well, you're wrong there," Zim said, a little freaked out by all this. "I've _always_ thought you were crazy."

Suddenly, the tone turned angry. "If anything, YOU'RE the one that betrayed me!"

Zim was riled now. "Oh, is that so?" he asked in clipped tones. "If you wouldn't mind clarifying that for me, please!"

"You're the one that hurt the robot!"

"WHAT?" Zim was going to tear him apart. "You think I'd hurt my own robot? You think I tried to kill GIR? My GIR? How DARE you make that assumption, you filthy earth slug!"

"I had a motive when I tried to kill the robot!" A raspy voice this time.

"What?" Startled, Zim took a step back. "I beg your pardon?" He was getting freaked out. "Dib?" The irken peeked into the room, sighting Dib talking to a screen projecting the shadow of an angry looking man.

Dib leaned in to the screen, leering at the man. "What was your motive, Darkbooty?"

_Darkbooty? ...Gasp! From that Swollen Eyeball Network! That's what Dib was a part of! ...But did that mean he had been involved with hurting GIR? Surely Dib wouldn't stoop THAT low!_

Narrowing his eyes, Zim leaned in further, his antenna at full alert, giving the conversation all its attention.

"My motive was to show you what the Swollen Eyeball Network is really capable of, Dib!" Darkbooty snarled. "And a 'punishment' for lying to us!"

_Lying?_ Zim wondered.

"You dare deny the aliens being at your house when you were stupid enough to leave the surveillance cameras on?"

_Oh, that idiot.._

Dib growled. "Fine, so I made one little lie. I just didn't want Zim to be dissected!"

Zim blinked in surprise. _What?_

"I need him to get to irk, so I can destroy it! I told you that Irk is what's targeting the universe!"

_Oh, that's what he's playing at.._

Darkbooty gave a growl. "I don't even know why it is you're calling us. You're not a part of the association anymore! And don't ever call us again, you rat." The transmission was cut, leaving Dib sitting there, sadness creased in his face.

"So, it was you that was behind all this," came a low and angry voice from the door.

Dib gasped, spinning around to the irken. "Zim? How long have you been there?"

Zim's lips curled over his teeth as he snarled. "Long enough to hear every word... So, it was YOU that was behind GIR's injury!"

The boy's eyes went as wide as saucers. "What? I am not!"

Zim got up on his spider legs, glaring daggers at Dib. "It was your stupid pink eyeball _HYU-MANS_-" he hatefully spat," -that had hunted him down! But you probably gave them the idea, didn't you?"

"What?" Dib's eyes went as wide as saucers. "I did not!" He clenched his fists. "Didn't you hear the transmission? Darkbooty is the one that hurt GIR! Not me!"

"I knew we couldn't trust you, you FILTHY EARTH WEASEL PIG WORM BOY!"

"...What?"

"I don't know!" Zim lunged at Dib with his spiderlegs, knocking the boy into the bedpost.

"Augh! Look, Zim, it's not my fault!" He gasped and dodged a blast from one of Zim's lasers, cartwheeling away.

"You're going to pay for betraying ZIIIM, WORM MONKEY!"

"I didn't betray you!"

Zim narrowed his eyes. "It's no wonder you have no friends...if you always betray them!"

Dib narrowed his eyes at the alien. "Zim," he warned.

"And you were actually stupid enough to deny us being here when your CAMERAS WERE ON?"

The boy gave a low growl. "I tried to save your identity, Zim!" he snarled. "And your LIFE!"

Zim gave a scornful laugh.

"I denied you being here because if they knew that, they'd dissect you and GIR both!"

"You only saved us for your own selfish reasons!"

"I still saved you! Doesn't that count for anything?"

"NO!" Zim blasted him again; it narrowly missed Dib, instead, making a hole on a furry baby blanket on his bed.

Dib gasped, running over to inspect the blanket, holding the charred fabric in his hands, his eyes moistening slightly. "Oh...you snake," Dib hissed, throwing open his bottom drawer and taking out one of his own high powered lasers.

And the battle broke out. Dozens of shots were fired, most missing, and the only hits were only minor wounds. The entire room was filled with thick smoke, making it nearly impossible to see anything but the traces of each other's faces.

Dib shot at Zim's legs, but the irken drew them up to his chin, as he too, fired at Dib's head.

The fireball singed off the top part of Dib's hair, melting through the wall, out into the neighborhood, and lighting a nearby tree on fire.

The alien's antenna frizzed with rage, and he bared his zipper like teeth, putting his laser to full power. A deadly hum was heard as the laser charged itself to full maximum power. Zim grinned evilly, but terror gripped his heart at the sound of a frightened voice right in front of him.

"Master?"

"GIR?"

The laser grew hot, getting ready to deal its deadly blow.

"_GIR NO!"_

The deafening explosion knocked him into a dresser as the entire room filled with light.

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_ (Hmm, well, I've decided to be a jerk and leave you all on a cliff until the next update. XD I could very easily upload the next already written chapter, but I won't. ^^ I love cliffies. If you're all peeing yourself in suspense, go ahead and check DA then. XD)_


	11. Chapter 11

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be

_Chapter 11 - Nightmares_

Dib gave a painful wince as he attempted to stand. The heat from the blast stung his throat and the smoke teared up his eyes. Putting his hands on the ground, he lifted his butt a little – just enough to push himself up. Weak from the ordeal, he collapsed, falling back down on his haunches.

_One step at a time.._

The boy put one hand down, another hand, and then raised up on the balls of his feet. He pulled himself up by the covers on his bed, and staggered a bit.

_Success.._

Instantly, he was knocked over and into the bedpost again by Zim, who ran by.

_AUUUUUUUGHH! I'm going to be the youngest kid in town to need back surgery!_

Zim's eyes were wet too, as he gave a cough from the smoke. He darted around frantically. "GIR! GIR! GIR! ANSWER ME, PLEASE!" His worst fear was that the SIR had been blown to bits by the blast, and that wouldn't be a surprise with the way that laser was charged. "GIR!" His voice broke.

"..I'm down here," came the frail little reply.

Zim whirled around, and saw two little cyan blue eyes glowing from under the bed. "GIR-!"

The little robot crawled out from under the bed to his stunned master.

"C-come here," Zim said softly, eyes still wide.

The little robot toddled over to him, and Zim moved forward.

For a moment, Dib thought the irken was about to hug him, until..

"YOU STUPID ROBOT!" Zim yelled, causing GIR to stumble back on his metal rear. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

GIR's eyes watered. "I-I was.."

"I _told_ you to _stay_ on the _couch!_" Zim yelled. "That blast could've _killed_ you!"

The SIR started to cry. "But-but I heard yellin', an' booms, an' the couch shook!"

Zim's glare softened. It never occurred to him that all that noise would have frightened the SIR. He sighed. "That was our doing.."

Dib started to say "what do you mean _'our'_?", but thought better of it. This wasn't the best time.

Zim coughed; the remainder of the smoke still stuck in his chest. "Get back to the couch, GIR, I'll be there in a bit."

The SIR started to get to his feet, but his injuries made him stumble and he fell flat on his face, crying like a toddler.

Zim shook his head and walked over, picking him up and turning to the door. Right before leaving, he gave Dib an acid glare and slipped out the doorway.

Dib stared blankly at the door for a few minutes, then sighed and sat on his singed bed. Nearly his entire room had been destroyed, and what's worse, his baby blanket. Heartbroken, Dib reached down and gingerly touched he burn hole in the side. This was his most prized possession, and Zim had ruined it...

"Why are you and Bighead fighting?" GIR asked in an innocent and clueless voice as Zim carried him downstairs.

Zim sighed. "It's...complicated, GIR..a bit too complicated for your understanding..."

"I don't like it when you guys fight...I don't like fighting.."

_Which certainly doesn't make you into a very good evil minion_, Zim thought. But that wasn't his biggest concern right now.

"Don't worry about it," Zim said simply. "Your biggest concern should be getting better." He reached the couch and gently laid the SIR back down in a fashion that a parent usually did with a baby: going down with them. "You didn't get further hurt, did you?"

GIR sniffled. "I'm still hurting...but I hided under the bed when the room went BOOM."

Zim breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Just checking. Stay on the couch." He narrowed his eyes slightly. "I mean it. Stay there."

The robot gulped a little. Zim had used that "obey me or else" tone a few times, and it was about the only time he listened. He shrunk back into the couch a little as his master walked off, but gathered enough courage to ask one question.

"Where's my hot dog?"

Zim just groaned.

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The next few days went on as so. Dib and Zim didn't talk to each other, but that was no surprise. Neither of them could hardly consider it a loss since they still hated each other's guts. Dib spent his time in his room fixing up the results from the huge explosion, while Zim spent most of his time on the couch with GIR. It was like having a newborn baby in the house, for both he and Zim were awoken by the sound of GIR's loud wails throughout most of the night. Sometimes Dib would peer over the banister just in time to see GIR crawl into Zim's lap, or squeezing the fluff out of Minimoose. The reasons of GIR's crying varied; it was usually when his pain jolted him awake, or a bad nightmare. The

nightmares of being beaten still haunted him. Dib – as well as Zim – found it unfair he had to "live through it" again and again each night. But at least when he opened his eyes he was in a warm bed, and under the concerned and watchful eyes of both his master and Minimoose. And tonight was no different..

Zim was roughly roused from sleep at the sound of GIR's ear splitting wail right next to him. The irken jumped nearly a mile in the air, his antenna stuck up in alert and stress.

GIR hiccuped a few sobs, tears trailing down his cheeks as he fearfully stared up at Zim.

Zim sighed, having been woken from GIR's cries for the second time that night. "What was it this time?"

GIR's little lip trembled, he burst into tears and threw himself in Zim's lap, sobbing.

Zim flinched a little, staring down at him. He stroked a finger over his antenna a couple times as comfort. "What happened?"

Sobbing, GIR just buried into his master; his wails muffled in the irken's uniform.

"What was it?" Zim asked in a softer tone.

"I...I..I.." He gave a sobbing breath. "I got beated up again!"

Zim closed his eyes, shaking his head and sighing. "You're safe now..." He wasn't sure how much he'd repeated this phrase the past few days. "If that HYU-MAN tries to hurt you again, I'll melt his eyeballs out of his sockets and feed them to wiener dogs!"

The young SIR unit blinked his tear filled eyes curiously up at Zim, and sucked on his fist, sniffling.

"Trust me, GIR, I would never let anyone get away with hurting you."

"What about Mini?" GIR asked.

"Huh?"

"Would you let anyone hurt Mini?"

Zim shook his head. "No, the 'beater' would still be destroyed if they hurt either you or Minioose."

GIR nodded with a sniffle, he knew his master was serious of course. Zim's brows furrowed in and his mouth was set in a grim line.

Gently, Zim laid him back against the pillow and Minimoose brought the blankets to his chin. "Get some sleep, and try not to have anymore nightmares."

GIR nodded, still sniffling. "Mm, 'kay.."

Zim stared at him a little until he closed his eyes, the situated himself at the other end of the couch and fell in a restless sleep – perhaps as restless as GIR's.

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"NO!" A young irken child gave a scream and clawed at the windows. "Why isn' anyone doin' anything?"

Orange flames leaped from the windows of shuttle as it came crashing to the ground. A huge explosion erupted, and rain began to fall- rain made of ember.

He clawed desperately at the windows again, fighting to get over to the burning shuttle. A hand fell gently on his shoulder, irken claws tightening just the slightest bit on him, pulling him back.

"You can't go there," an authorative voice spoke, but he spoke gently and compassionately. "It's too dangerous."

"But someone's gotta get 'er outta there!" He struggled more against the strong hands, reaching out to the shuttle, but the hands grabbed his arms.

"MAMIN!"

Zim awoke with a start, shooting up in his bed, drenched with sweat as he took deep heaving breaths and clutched his chest, shaking, and turning to look at GIR, who was breathing softly, hugging Minimoose in his sleep. After calming his breathing, Zim shakily laid back against the couch, now more awake and paranoid than ever. The resonating cry of his childhood – the fright and innocence as he watched the shuttle burn to ashes. But a more disturbing question racked at his brain. Why was he dreaming about _her_ again?

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"Order up!" Zim called back into the living room, smiling slightly as he flipped a few waffles.

GIR giggled loudly, covering his mouth as he stared at his master in an apron. "You look funny!"

"Oh be quiet!" Zim smirked a little. "I didn't want to get any batter or flour on on my SUPERIOR mighty invader's uniform!" That was only one of the reasons why he was wearing it. The other was mostly just to make GIR laugh, and it certainly worked. "What would you like in your waffles?"

"WAFFLES!" GIR cheered. "I want WAFFLES in 'em!"

"...Informative," Zim muttered as he flipped the waffles over. "What do you usually put in them?"

"Soap!"

"SOAP?" He didn't think GIR was actually serious when he said "these got peanuts and soap in 'em!" "...That's just gross," he said quietly to himself as he added some chippets in them and flipped them on the plate.

"GIMMIE!" GIR reached out to the plate.

Zim chuckled lightly and walked over. "Hold on a second." He sat on the couch and handed the plate to his little robot, who swallowed them whole. Zim just stared at him, then slowly grinned. "Seriously, GIR, your appetite terrifies me sometimes."

The SIR unit giggled loudly, handing his master a waffle and finishing the rest of the plate himself.

But the moment Dib walked down the stairs, the cheery atmosphere faded, and it was nothing but stone cold silence.

Dib silently peered over the stove. "You made waffles?"

Zim nodded, his face set in a grim line. "...Mhmm.."

"May I have one?"

The irken nodded

Dib quietly piled his plate, then turned to Zim with a sigh. "Look...Zim...I..uhhh..I'm really sorry for what Darkbooty did..."

Zim gagged on his waffles, prompting Minimoose to ram him in the back with his nubs. "You're what?"

"I should have turned off the cameras, and told you when I knew who hurt GIR..."

Zim eyed him skeptically. He didn't trust him. "..."

"Really, I am..."

The irken's narrowed eyes went back to their normal size. "...Alright then."

Dib kept standing there, he appeared to be waiting for something.

"What?"

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to apologize?"

Zim's eyes narrowed into slits, his antenna went back in a threatened way. "For what?" he asked darkly.

Dib's fists clenched, as well as his teeth – an indication he was getting riled as well. "Hmm, let me think..for accusing _me_ of hurting GIR, for _destroying_ my _entire_ room!" He snarled. "For _ruining_ the most important thing to me: my baby blanket!" His eyes narrowed more. "FOR YOUR FALSE ACCUSATIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS!"

Zim growled loudly. "I will do NO SUCH THING. Zim owes NO APOLOGY, you little _worm!"_

"Stop trying to make yourself high and mighty when you aren't!"

"Zim IS high and mighty!" Zim yelled.

"THEN WHY ARE YOU A DEFECTIVE?" Dib shot back.

GIR started to bawl, but Zim hardly noticed. He stood there, stock still and stunned, his antenna fell back again, but for a different reason this time, and his head slowly lowered. Oh, that HURT. Was the haunting word ever going to leave him alone? Of ALL the insults and names Dib could shoot out, he was really low enough to choose _that_ horrible word? When Zim spoke, his voice sounded shaky with rage, and broken. He raise a shaking fist, and though he didn't lift his head, glared up.

"Oh...you wretched HUMAN...you-" He stopped, sighed, and lowered his fist, closing his eyes. "..Forget it.."

Dib blinked a little. Oh, he had tweaked a nerve – not to mention found a weak spot. Well, good, knock Zim of his pillar of might and greatness for once. His eyes met GIR's frightened tear filled ones, and Zim's pained closed ones. He silently made his way to the door

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_ (Ohhhhhhhh...that outta hurt. Man, Dib is a meanie.)_


	12. Chapter 12

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be  
_ Chapter 12 – Unexpected Threat_

The next couple weeks passed by as so. Dib and Zim barely spoke to each other, unless exchanging awkward hellos on the stairs or if they happened to pass each other by in the living room. Zim spent most of his time on the couch with GIR, trying to get him back to full health as quick as possible.

"Well," the irken cracked a smile as he unraveled a bandage around his young robot's head, "you're healing slowly, but surely." He gave a relieved sigh. "I'm just glad your occasional nightmares have become infrequent." He bobbed GIR's antenna. "Soon – AFTER I sought out revenge with that...black booty – we can put this ordeal behind us."

GIR clapped his little metal claws and fingered the bandage. "Master..?"

"Mm?"

"Are we still gonna go and BOOM the tall guys?"

Zim nodded, his antenna going back at the mention of the traitors' names. "Yep.. That's why I need to get you back to perfect health as soon as possible so you can help me 'boom' them as well."

"WOOT! I like booming people!"

"A perfect quality for an evil sidekick," Zim chuckled. "Why couldn't you be like that with the humans, rather than just make FRIENDS with them?"

"Humans are my friends!" GIR chirped, watching as his master made a disgusted face and shook his head.

"They're your friends? Really? Even the worm monkey that hurt you?"

"..."

"Eh...sorry.."

Zim was actually thankful when Dib's annoying voice interrupted the awkward moment, "anyone want Chinese food? I'm ordering some!"

GIR perked up immediately. "WOOT! I like to eat the Chinese!"

Zim ended up spitting out an irken nacho in an attempt to hold back his laughter. "Wh-what? Since when did you eat a human?"

The little SIR leaned into him and whispered, "it's a deep and DAAAAAAAAAARK secret.."

"...You're very weird.."

"Thank you."

Dib just shook his head at both of their idiocy. "Okay um, egg roll?"

Zim gagged and shook his head. "None for me, thanks!" He held his mouth.

"I LIKE EGGY ROLLS!" GIR cheered. "GIMMIE A HUNDRED!"

"Uhh.." Dib gave a wry smile. "I'm afraid I only have enough money for about five."

"FIVE HUNDRED!"

"No, no, five."

"FIVE HUNDRED!"

"_No,_ five!"

"FIFTY!"

"_NO, FIVE!_"

"...Fifteen?"

"...Okay, fifteen."

GIR smiled, satisfied he had won, and fell back against the couch. "Yum..egg rolls.."

Zim made another face. "How can you eat those? They burn my insides!"

"Yeah, keywords, YER insides!"

The irken narrowed his eyes and stuck out his snake like tongue at his robot. "Shut up.."

GIR blew a raspberry at him. "Nyeh..."

Dib chuckled, those two fought like a couple of kids! "Alright, I just need to...show your master something."

Zim quirked an eyebrow and antenna. "Heh?"

Silently, Dib waved the alien up into his bedroom and sat him down on the bed.

The irken regarded his nemesis with a cold hating glare. "What do you want, Dib stink?" he snarled. "I'm still mad at you, you know!"

Dib sighed and returned the glare as he sat into his computer chair. "Yes, I'm still mad at you too."

"For WHAT?" Zim snarled. "I did nothing!"

Dib was NOT getting into another fight with him. "I'm not going through this with you _again, Zim!_ I need to show you something very important!"

"Make it quick!" Zim snapped. "I want to be away from you!"

Dib sighed and rubbed his temples. He chose not to answer to that comment and instead began pressing buttons on his keyboard.

Zim stared at the keyboard with a dour expression, but the moment the screen Dib wanted to show him came up...he froze.

The boy studied the alien's reaction carefully; the magenta eyes had filled quickly. "...Recognize the planet?"

"...Irk," he croaked.

"So it seems I finally got your planets co-ordinates correct."

Zim only stared at the screen. He recognized everything from Irk's beautiful moons, to the voot cruisers, to the snack machines! He felt such a pain snake up around his heart.

Dib looked into the alien's glassy hurt eyes. "...You are _totally_ homesick."

"SHUT UP!"

He decided to change the subject before Zim started actually crying, if that was even possible, "so, I found a simple root that takes a lot less time to get to your home pla-"a subtle sniffle - "...to irk... It takes a lot less time then six months, so we'll hopefully remain sane until we arrive there...but a trip with GIR..no promises.." He enlarged the screen and Zim could make out the _Massive._ In fact, he could see the small little image of the Tallest.

It was at that point that Zim staggered back, hand over his eyes. overwhelmed, and let out a miserable cry, "n-no more!"

Dib hated to admit, but he actually felt a sense of pity for the miserable little alien. "Zim," he sighed, "I know it's painful...but you have to face them sooner or later.."

The irken peered at the screen through the cracks in between his fingers. "...What's that?"

"Huh?" Dib had just exited the screen, and had it back at his neighborhood, where he could make out several dots that were marching their way into the small town. "What the..?" He enlarged the screen. "...Oh...my gosh.."

Zim frowned, lowering his hands to his lap. "What is it?" He was confused; the color from Dib's face had completely drained.

"No time to explain!" Suddenly, the boy was out of his chair and shoving the alien to the door. "Grab GIR and Minimoose and get out of here as soon as possible!" Before Zim could say a word, the door was slammed in his face.

Zim blinked, startled, then ran down the stairs and threw the covers off a sleeping GIR. "GIR, wake up!"

"Nmmm...cupcake.." came the subconscious response.

Zim rolled his eyes and picked up the robot. "Minimoose, come here!"

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Meanwhile, Dib was fastening a weapon belt to his waist and prepping a laser. Before making his way to the door, he zoomed in on his computer a final time and glared at the marching figures. "...So it's come down to this.."

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_(Oh-hoo-hoo! And things are finally starting to take off in this fic. We lose the mellowness for about 6 chapters, then it becomes mellow again. Prepare for some scientific horrors.)_


	13. Chapter 13

IZ, What Will Be, Will Be  
_ Chapter 13 - The Calm Before The Storm_

GIR blinked sleepily and rubbed his eyes. "Master?" He looked around the room. "Wha's goin' on?" His absence of many syllables suggested he was still half asleep.

Zim carefully picked up the injured robot. "I'm...not sure. Dib says we need to get out of the house immediately. Minimoose!" he called, "come to ZIM!"

The perplexed little moose sensed the urgency in his master's tone and hovered in quickly. "Nya?"

"I don't know what's going on," Zim responded. "Dib said we need to get out of the house. So COME!"

The little robotic moose floated over to the front door and opened it – immediately slamming it with a horrified look on his face.

Zim quirked an eyebrow. "What is it?"

The pale little moose said nothing, and only pointed out the window with a shaking antler.

Wrapping GIR in a light blanket, Zim bolted to the window and looked out it, instantly paling himself. "Oh, dear irk-!"

What looked like an angry mob was storming towards the Membrane's house. They were wearing very weird looking clothes. Lab coats, Zim realized. It was the Swollen Eyeball Network!

Zim ducked from the window before they caught sight of him, and crawled back towards the couch on knees and elbows, clamoring around the cushions for his disguise. He curled his fingers around the zipper of GIR's dog costume, and quickly, but carefully, got the SIR unit dressed, before doing the same to himself. "Dib!" he shouted. "You're little club is here to KILL US!"

"I know that!" Dib yelled back, "and I thought I told you to get _outside!_"

"I need to get us dressed!"

"For _what?_"

Zim face palmed. Was that boy really _that _stupid? "For the weather!" he snapped, rolling his eyes. "What do you think, earth monkey? So the humans won't _see_ us?"

"Well, make it quick!"

Growling in irritation, Zim grasped Minimoose by one of his nubs and pulled him down, crawling out of sight from the SEN and making their way to the back door. "Minimoose!" he whispered fiercely, "I need you to make sure your super weapon is activated; I have a feeling we'll need it!"

"Nya!" Minimoose squeaked in approval. He looked at his master. _What do we do with GIR?_

"He's in no condition to fight. While you gather up some weapons for me and retrieve the human from his bedroom, I'll find a place to hide GIR."

_Why not just hide him somewhere in the house?_

"Have you the brain worms, Minimoose? That's the first place they'll look! Now go! We don't have much time!" He sent his minion back to the house with a wave, and searched around for a good hiding spot. _The shed? No, too obvious._ The SEN was drawing closer. Frantic, Zim threw open the garden door and dashed out into the same alley he had found GIR in. The irken began digging a big hole underneath the dumpster, and shoved GIR in it.

Frightened, GIR tried to climb out, but Zim pushed him firmly back in.

"_No_, GIR!" he said sternly. "You are to STAY HIDDEN. You understand me, GIR? No matter what happens, you can't come out!"

"But, I want to help!" GIR cried tearfully.

Zim mustered a good authoritative parent tone of voice. "I said _NO._ You obey Zim!" he ordered. "This is for your own safety. You are in NO condition to fight! No matter what you hear going on, you cannot come out. _You stay here._"

Shaking fearfully, the tears continued to stream down the android's face.

Zim's expression softened, and he put on more of a soothing voice. "Hush now, it'll be fine. This is just for precaution. They won't find you here, but they will be looking else where. The SEN want us both, GIR, and they'll stop at nothing to get us both." Zim took a deep breath. "They may be humans, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to fight them off. I don't have my lab..." He took a hold of the robot's little claw. "I need to do all I can to keep us safe. I promise you once this is over, I'll come back. Zim never breaks a promise." He smiled. "I promised you the moon, remember?"

GIR nodded, showing the glimmer of a smile. It quickly faded though. "But what if you don't come back?"

"Then Dib will look after you. And, if he doesn't," he winked, "you have my permission to eat his giant head." Zim heard a gunshot and his antennae immediately stood in alert. "I have to go.." He got on his spider legs and lunged out of there with a big leap, ignoring the pleading cry of "master!" as he left the alley.

"Zim!" Dib screamed, "hurry up!"

The irken picked up the pace and arrived along side of his alley, standing on his spider legs and glaring at the approaching opposing threat. "Are we ready?"

"As ready as we can be!" Dib looked up at the irken. "Do you have the weapons?"

Zim casually tossed a few guns and lasers into the boy's hands. "All that Minimoose could scrounge."

"Good, now get out of here!"

Zim's eyes bulged even bigger than his head, and he glared daggers at the insolent human. "Are. You. _MAD?_ They'll kill you, human! You're not much more than a little _smeet!_ You'd be up against an army of at _least_ twenty! You cannot fight them all off!"

"They want _you_, Zim!" Dib snapped. "And GIR! You need to get out of here, they'll be chasing you the moment they arrive!"

"Dib!" Zim yelled, "I am _not_ leaving you to fend off these horrible dissecting monsters by yourself! You'll be dead in a minute!"

"And they'll dissect you in a minute!"

"Invaders don't run from _war!_" Zim snarled. "And it's too late for me to hide now, anyways! They're close enough that they'll see every move I make!"

Dib was breathing heavily, clutching one of his lasers in a fist. "F...fine, just be careful and watch your back, alien!"

"Same to you, worm monkey.."

Minimoose quickly took formation behind Zim, making sure his doomsday weapon was ready to strike.

Within less than five minutes, the SEN had arrived., poised and positioned to attack.

"Why, hello, Dib," Darkbooty said politely, betraying the menace in his eyes.

"_Darkbooty_," Dib spat, like it was a blasphemy.

Seeing red and shaking, all Zim got out was, "_you..._"

Darkbooty turned to Zim, sneering. "You're still wearing that cruddy disguise, alien? I already know what you are. Where's that little pet of yours?" He snickered. "Or did I kill it?"

Dib had to grab a hold of Zim's spiderlegs to keep him from pouncing and ripping out the human's throat.

_"You filthy, horrible, vile, disgusting, spewing.._" His furious babbles moved on to screams of irken profanity and then, "-_you DARED touch GIR!"_

Darkbooty didn't seem fazed by the threatening screams, he looked unimpressed, and yawned as Zim continued to rant. "It was too easy You should really take better care of your things, Zim," he smirked. "There's always someone who's out to get ya." He turned and looked at the rest of the SEN. "And that day is today, right guys?"

Cheers erupted from the crowd.

Darkbooty walked over to Dib, coming right up into his face. "And _you.._" He kicked the boy onto his back and pinned him with a foot on his chest. "You really should have stopped to think before you decided to betray the Swollen Eyeball Network, _Dib._"

Dib futilely tried to push the heavy black boot off. "I-I didn't betray you!" he gasped. "It's not like I turned on the human race! I was trying to help Zi-"

"There!" Darkbooty yelled, putting more pressure with his boot. "Help the enemy, you admit it!"

"L-listen to me!" Dib strained through his teeth. "I was trying to help Zim take over the one planet that's a threat to us and the rest of the universe! Without Zim helping me get there, we'd all eventually be destroyed!"

"Still.." Darkbooty narrowed his eyes. "Aiding the enemy.." He raised an eyebrow. "That's turning on earth, don't you think?" He pushed down harder on Dib's chest.

Dib sucked air through his teeth and desperately clawed at the scientist's boots, struggling to breathe.

It was at that point, Zim attacked, slashing through Darkbooty's abdomen with his sharp spider legs. "_No!_ No killing the little human, dissecting _monster!_" he seethed, "I still have use for the little worm!"

Darkbooty hissed, grasping the bloody cut and stepping back. Regaining his footing, he prepped a stun gun, then smirked. "Well then, are you ready?"

Zim picked the human up to his feet and crouched on his spider legs, his voice dripping with venom. "As we'll ever be..."

"Good. Swollen Eyeball Network, _attack._"

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_ (Hur hur, and now I'll leave you all hanging until tomorrow. ^^ Have a good night. Thanks to the fantabulous reviews, and a special thanks to invaderjohnny - fore he has been my reviewer since the beginning. Thanks, hun! *hug* I appreciate it. And yes, Dib sucks too. :p_)


	14. Chapter 14

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be

_Chapter 14 - Stuck In A Nightmare_

Zim barely had a chance to duck as something whizzed by his head, he didn't know what it was, but obviously it was some kind of weapon. "HA! Is that the best you can do, pit-i-ful hyu-man? ...ACK!" He drew his knees up to his chin as a gunshot sounded, and whipped under his spider legs. _Note to self, don't provoke them_.

"Give in, you filthy space monster!" the scientist snarled, drawing a gun from his belt.

"Oh, go to heck!" Zim snapped, abruptly slapping the startled human across the face. "You think Zim would actually give in to a HYUMAN? Bah-! You speak nonsense, you filthy earth slug! I am ZIIIIIIM! Zim would never turn himself in to the EARTH AUTHORITIES!"

"But, you were going to after you found out about your mission," Dib pointed out, while fending off one of the scientists with a stick.

"Oh, who's side are you on, anyways!" Zim said crossly.

"Hey, I'm just pointing out the fa-WHOA!" He barely had a chance to dodge...a scalpel?

Zim roughly pulled him out of range of the oncoming dagger, and screamed in his face, "'Mind me pointing out the FACT THAT YOU ARE COMPLETELY IDIOTIC! YOU ALMOST GOT SLICED TO BITS!"

"Argh, can we pause our daily squabbles for a bit? We have maniacal and genocidal scientist to hoard off at the minute!"

Roughly letting the human go, Zim hissed out as he felt a searing pain tear up his spine. His pak became briefly jumbled, and his vision blurred. Before the irken even realized it, he was on the ground in a crumpled heap.

Sneering, Darkbooty pulled the knife out of his back; it dripped with what looked like green mucus...

_Alien blood.._ Dib realized, gasping in horror. "Z-Zim!" He pulled the injured irken to his feet and glared at Darkbooty. "What did you do to him?"

"Stabbed him," Darkbooty said simply, as if the answer had been completely obvious. "The blade is poison tipped."

The peach drained from Dib's face. "No," he cried, "poison? What's it do?"

"Not kill him, if that's what you're thinking. It'll just make him seriously woozy and incoherent until he eventually passes out." He smirked. "Then we'll collect on him. And speaking of which.." He raised his voice so it could be heard over the crowd, "I want the robot found! We need both the subjects for testing. SEN, spread out and search, but I need half of you to help me bring these two subjects down!"

Dib clenched his fists. "Oh, so I'm a subject now? What's the point of that, Booty? I'm human! Human!"

"Yes...but your head is exceptionally large...abnormally large.."

Dib set his jaw. Oh, _so that's it? EVERYTHING, even in a life and death situation always comes down to the size of my head! He was thankful that Zim wasn't awake right now. Good grief..._.

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The irken was trapped. Stuck in the black abyss, and this pain being the only thing that would welcome him...doing everything to keep him in the clutches of sleep.

_"Mamin, Mamin, look what I found! It's a buh'fly! I love buh'flies...love buh'flies...they so pretty...so pretty..."_

_ "Why are you gone, Mamin? Come back to Zim... I don' like it here. The mean guys keep hittin' me.. They throwed me in the water...an' water hurts me, Mamin... I don' like to hurt... come back, Mamin..."_

_ "You have surpassed all expectations, invader Zim..we did not think you would survive the intense military training, but you can declare yourself an invader..as short as you are..."_

_ "An invader..yes! Yes! MWAHAHAHAHA! I am ZIIIIIIIM! Fear me fools! All will bow down to Zim! Look at me now, Exe, water can't bring down the almighty ZIM! BEATING CAN'T BRING DOWN ZIM! I will lead the empire one day! Watch me, Mamin!"_

_ "What's a Mamin?"_

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"Zim!" Dib hissed, sharply slapping the irken's cheek. "Wake up, space boy! We have to move, move, now!"

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_"Ah'm going to be an invader some day, Tin-Tin... ah'm gonna rule.."_

_ "A defective? Zim? Great Irk, it's not possible.."_

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"Zim!" Dib pleaded, trying his hardest to wake the alien. "Zim, come on! We need to move! The SEN has destroyed the house! And they're searching for GIR! I told Minimoose to flee! The house is on fire!"

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_"Fire..fire..fire..burns...Zim doesn't like to burn..watched Mamin burn..."_

_ "Burning is bad.."_

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It was no use, the poison must have done something to Zim's pak, put him in permanent sleep mode. He watched as Zim's antenna and eyelids flicked occasionally. Was he dreaming? "Zim, wake up! GIR is in danger! We're in danger! And.." His voice trailed off as he watched green puddles suddenly start to seep from under the irken. "...you're bleeding.."

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_ "Blood...blood...is the color of... "_

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Dib wiped the emerald blood onto his jeans, as he watched helplessly as the house burned, and every remnant of his life burned with it...into ashes.. He needed to save all he could...stuff that belonged to his mother needed to be saved...his computer...food.. no, there was no time for that...

"Zim, I'll be right back.." he whispered, even full aware that the irken couldn't hear him. He laid the limp alien on the ground, and charged into the burning wreckage.

"Committing suicide are you, Dib?" came a smirking voice from outside of the house. "That's fine, we'll retrieve you before your head gets melted in the blaze. It's for science." The mocking tone became an angry roar. "Find the robot! Go in the house if you have to! We cannot have it be destroyed before the dissection! Oh, and fetch that alien!"

"Isn't he dangerous, sir?"

"Not while he's unconscious, he isn't. Disable that egg thing on his back. It's concealing weapons! Oh, and when you find the robot, switch him off We'll activate him before the dissection!"

"Will do, sir!"

Dib climbed the crackling steps and into his room, flames dripped from the ceiling, eating away his bedroom floor. Thankfully, it was still there, safe on his pillow. "Oh, thank God.." He retrieved the valuable item, cuddling it close and inhaling her scent in it. "I kept it safe, Mom." When Dib looked back at the door, he was horrified to find that there was no longer an escape from the fire. The window was too high up. Either way, he knew it..

_I'm going to die.._

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"Did'ja find the robot yet, Tom?"

"Does it LOOK like it, you buffoon? Does it look like I have a robot in my arms?"

"Well, for the good of SCIENCE, we must find the specimen!"

GIR whimpered as he heard the voices drawing closer, from the corner of his cyan eyes he caught sight of the flames.

_Oh noes! Big head's house is on fire! Is Big head in there? Where's Moose? Where's Master? _He knew he couldn't scream or cry, but he was reeling. _MASTER! COME BAAACK! DON'T GO ON FIRE AN' SPLODE!_ Tears flowed freely from his optics. _Master...Moose..._

"Hey! Hey – look! It's the robot!" Pounding footsteps came more near, and GIR whimpered, trying to bury farther under the dirt. He gave a cry of pain as metal fists grabbed his injured leg hard and suspended him in the air. "Noooo! Put me down! Put me down! Masterrrrrrr!"

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GIR's scream slipped into Zim's subconscious mind, but only mingled with the dream.

_"Huh. GIRs' crying again. Probably misses another cupcake he ate.."_

_ "WHEEEEEE! I'm a monkey!"_

_ "GIR, silence! I need quiet if I'm to complete this mission!"_

_ "Mission, what's a mission?"_

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"Cooome, specimen," the scientist droned evilly, relishing the fear they were inflicting on the little metal child. "You will give us a better understanding on your species." He held GIR by the antenna, and at eye level. "Won't that be fuuun? You should feel honored. You're the first robot we've ever tested on!"

GIR gave a fearful cry and tucked his knees under his chin, refusing to look at the scientist. "No-! No-! I don't want to be! Masterrrr!" he wailed, tears streaming.

"Amazing! It can cry! It can feel! It isn't like the heartless space monster!"

"You lies! Master isn' heartless! Stop being mean! Leave us alone!"

The scientist grinned, a malicious grin. "He can't feel...he's a monster...he doesn't care.." Oh, how they loved raining misery and fear down on this little menace. He acted like a kid, but so what? He wasn't a human. They didn't have to feel bad...and they didn't.

"You lies! Master loves me!"

"He is a cold emotionless machine, incapable of feeling, robot.. He does not love you, or anything."

GIR's eyes flashed angrily, and his mouth was set in a trembling line. It was like a horrible nightmare, the kind he had after being beaten. The sick, evil tone, and the whispers that were like the hisses of snakes.. "No...no! I don' believe that!" He let out a wail as the scientist fiercely yanked on his bandaged leg. "OWIE!"

"What'd you do to yourself, robot?" snickered the scientist. "Or is that Darkbooty's work?" He tugged harder, causing GIR to shriek out in pain. "Oh, don't play me, you little menace...you're a robot, you can't feel." He fiercely yanked GIR's leg.

"OWWWWIIIIEE! M-MASTER!" he sobbed.

And he remembered the beating in the end of the dream; the part where he couldn't seem to wake up.

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GIR's voice entered Zim's dream again.

_"Oh, he's crying again. Did he lose his piggy or something?"_

But in the dream, he realized it.

_"No, no, NO! The dissecting monsters have him! They're hurting him! Got to wake up! Got to wake up..! Got to... _He couldn't. No matter how hard he tried, it was impossible. And then another voice entered his dream. He couldn't tell if it was Darkbooty's..

"Zim, I always win..."

It sounded a lot like the Tallest.

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_(I'm sure some of you can tell I've gotten inspiration from HeCallsMeHisChild; the greatest IZ author who ever lived. The little dream sequences Zim had were flashbacks, and some weren't meant to make much sense, and probably didn't. Mission accomplished. We're finally about to get into one of my favorite chapters; where my baby arrives.)_


	15. Chapter 15

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be

_Chapter 15 - Awake In A Nightmare_

_ "Mamin, why do the tall people wan' me dead?"_

_ "W-well, sweetheart, you aren't like any average smeet. You're...a little short.."_

_ "Th' other smeets make fun'a me..."_

_ "They just don't see the special side on you that I see, dear.."_

Voices, cruel voices entered the dream.

_ "You're helpless now, you little runt..."_

_ "No, no, no leave me alone! I want my Mamin!"_

_ "You belong to us now...you're part of the military now..."_

_ "NO, I don't want to be! I just want to go home!"_

_ "Something bite sized like you will make a very taaaasssty snack for the Warpatho."_

_ "NO! NO! MAMIN!"_

_ "You are ours...you are for...science.."_

Science?

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With great difficulty, Zim opened his eyes. The room was nothing but distorted colors that seemed to be moving. The voices sounded like they were under water. "Ma...mii..." His heavy lids drooped once more, the room swaying with result of his dizziness. He was still mostly incoherent. "Ma.."

"What is that he's saying, sir? He keeps going 'Mamin' over and over again."

"Beats me. Hey! Maybe he's crying for his mama!"

They all burst into laughter at that.

"Yo, Tom, I got the robots! One of them is a floating moose." In one hand, he held a terrified trembling GIR by the antenna, and a livid stuffed moose with the other.

"Masterrr!" GIR wailed.

Hearing the child like cry, and pleading voice was all it took to snap Zim out of his sedation. "GIR!" His eyes snapped open, and he charged over to the scientists – only to bounce off a transparent dome. "What on irk-?" His head shot up, upon hearing the scientists roar with laughter.

"Insolent little scum! Did you _really_ think we'd just lay you there in the open room where you're free to attack and destroy whatever you please?" one chuckled.

Zim said nothing, but only narrowed his eyes, as a threatening growl escaped his lips. He tried to look as menacing as possible, hoping, pleading that it would so _something_. It had to! In the military, some irkens bowed down to him because they were so afraid of him! Why weren't the scientists?

_Why would they be? They have the advantage here. They're the ones with the sharp...organ tearing tools..the ones that have me immobilized. Why would they fear me? They expect me to fear them. That is __NEVER going to happen! The almighty ZIM does not give in to fear!_ Even as he thought this, he was shaking. Zim cursed his body for betraying him.

"Before we begin the experiments, would you like to see your pets one last time?" They slammed GIR up against the glass dome, and Zim's stone facade was worn down by the fear in the android's face. "GIR!"

The SIR unit quietly mouthed something, 'master', Zim realized, and put his little claw where Zim's hand was.

The irken pressed his hand tightly against the SIR's claw, but just as quickly GIR was whisked away, and slammed onto an autopsy table. Zim winced at the cry of pain GIR gave, as his leg was given the treatment it didn't want. "Stop-! Leave him alone! He didn't do anything wrong!"

One of the scientists smirked. "Oh, is this one of those 'take me instead?' routines.?"

Zim's mouth trembled in fury, and he nodded without thinking.

"How sweeeeet..." the scientist cooed. "Unfortunately for you, space monster, you'll be dissected regardless."

The color completely drained from Zim's face. _Great Irk...how did this happen_? "F-fine! Just leave them alone! You won't find anything but garbage inside of the robot's head, anyways! And fluff inside of Minimoose!" He hoped that would persuade the scientists to leave his minions alone...but to no avail.

GIR whimpered as he was strapped down to the metal table, and strained to lift his head to look into his master's helpless face. "Mas-" he was cut off by an abrupt and hard blow to the head.

"Shut up, specimen!"

Zim let out a furious snarl and suddenly charged forward, smashing his head against the glass. The pain made his head numb and he limply collapsed on his stomach, antennae falling to the side. He looked like a wounded little puppy dog.

The scientists smirked at his pathetic self, and one came closer, bending down to look him right in the eye. "You know, this will be a new experience for us," one of them began coldly, "we've never dissected an alien before. Plus, you're our first new subject in years. We've been so busy testing and opening the hybrid..." He trailed off, and motioned for one of the lab assistants over to a separate door with his hand.

Cries and screams were suddenly heard – a child's cry! The lab assistant returned a minute later, holding a young girl - who looked to be no more than three or four earth years – by the hair.

Zim swallowed hard past a lump in his throat. "Y-you humans would dissect and test on your own race? That is appalling! Not even irkens would go that far unless the smeet had some sort of defect or abnormality, but that child looks completely normal!"

"On the outside, maybe!" the scientist hissed, "but on the inside, she's everything but normal! This child was not born with human organs, and she was the first clue – until you came along, that told us aliens exist!"

Zim's eyes widened. "She's an extraterrestrial hybrid?" This was a truly amazing sight! Most aliens these days were born in either tubes or pods, but only a handful were ever conceived naturally, and probably less then ten were cross bred. Cross breeding was one of the worst act of treason on any planet; this girl was probably wanted dead in every galaxy! _Her leaders must have sent her here.._. Zim leaned in a little more to get a look at the girl. _Human, definitely...I can almost smell her through the glass!_ He grimaced in disgust. _She must not have been bathed for weeks, maybe months!_

The child looked at Zim pleadingly; her eyes were bright amethyst orbs, but her hair was so dirty and grimy, Zim could barely tell what color it was. Her skin was a dark color, but then he realized, that was just the dirt.

But how on Irk could she be human? I thought I was who discovered Earth! ...Wasn't I? He closely examined her, wishing he could get a better look inside her body. _I wonder what other species she is..._

The lab assistant smirked, pulling the girl back from the glass and casually tossing her back into her filthy cell. "And that's what you'll become soon..."

_A human?_ Zim wondered, _or do they mean that's the condition I'll be in?_

With all the excitement over the hybrid, the scientists had nearly forgotten the task at hand. "Right, let's begin the dissection on the robots."

And Zim was at it again, gnawing, kicking, punching, everything he could do to get free, but nothing seemed to work.

The lab assistant laughed cruelly. "It is so amusing to watch you, specimen. The glass is impenetrable from your end, but one tap from the outside can easily shatter it."

Zim gasped. That's it! Oh, if only he could somehow get GIR to do something. But the robot was totally immobilized...with the exception of one claw. Zim grinned. _Haha! Those idiotic hyu-mans! Thy forgot one strap!_ Subtly, he began banging on the glass, trying to get GIR's attention.

The scientists ignored him, thinking he was just trying to free himself again, and went about prepping syringes, scalpels, and all sorts of terrible tools.

Zim banged at the glass, a little harder._ "GIR...!"_

The SIR unit pushed his head up and looked at his master, puzzled.

Zim made furious hand motions towards the tool tray that was just inches from GIR's reach. 'The wrench!' he mouthed, 'throw the wrench, GIR!'

GIR blinked and turned his head towards the tray, eying the wrench. He glanced over at the scientists to make sure they weren't watching him, and began batting at the end of the wrench, trying to get it within his reach.

_That's it, GIR!_ he encouraged silently._ Throw it!_

GIR curled his metal claw around the handle of the object and reached over the scientist's arm, hurling it towards the glass dome. The scientist gave horrified gasps, watching helplessly as the wrench spiraled through the air, whizzing forward to the dome.

Zim stared up, eyes wide and hopeful. _Break the glass, PLEASE break the glass!_ he silently pleaded.

The wrench stuck through the glass like an arrow,...but only created a few mere cracks.

Zim's antenna fell in defeat, as did GIR's, and the scientists howled with laughter.

"Well, look at that little alien, your plan was a complete failure."

"No!" Zim snarled. "ZIM DOES NOT GIVE UP!" He gave an animal like scream as he blasted the dome hysterically with his lasers.

The scientists laughed cruelly at his futile efforts. "Try all you will with those pathetic little 'flashlights' of yours, you aren't getting out!"

"NOOOOOOOO!" Zim punched and kicked and clawed at the walls. "DIB! WHY IS IT YOU'RE ONLY NOT HERE WHEN I WANT YOU TO BE?" His greatest fear was about to be realized: being cut up. He couldn't even imagine the pain and horror of having his organs pulled out one by one. But watching GIR and Minimoose being cut up and experimented on would be worse than any sickening horror movie he had ever seen on this earth.

_Crack_. The glass cracked a little more.

_Yes!_ Zim had hope yet. He watched as the glass cracked a little more, and another horrifying sight appeared. A knife, and it was approaching both his sidekicks. He bashed the glass frantically, trying to speed the process up. _Come on!_

_Crack._

The scientist brought the knife down to Minimoose's stomach, while the other approached GIR with a power saw.

"NO!" Zim shook his head frantically, the glass had stopped cracking. The irken squinted his eyes shut in horror and fear, tearing at his antenna desperately and uttering a choked cry, "AUGH!"

_Shatter!_ Suddenly, there was a rainfall of glass, as tiny little shards showered his cage.

Zim almost jumped for joy. _Yes, yes, YES!_ But there was work to be done. He got up on his spider legs, the most menacing look of fire on his face. "You. Hurt. Them." You could almost see the flames encircling him. "NO ONE hurts the property of ZIM!"

The scientists, once so confident and fearless, were now cowering in the corner, screaming as lasers buzzed over their heads – and promptly cutting through the restraints on GIR and Minimoose.

As much as Zim wanted revenge, wanted to tear their organs apart one by one, he knew he couldn't. They needed to get out of there _now._ "GIR, Minimoose, let's go-!" he shouted, watching from the corner of his eye as the cowards ran out of the lab, screaming in terror, and locking the door. He smirked a little. _Heh-heh, good, dissecting monsters, very good, FEAR ZIM!_

Then, he heard it. The crackle of the flames in the opposite side of the room. _Oh, irk..._ When he zapped his sidekicks free, his lasers had also hit a gas tank; fire was beginning to spread everywhere. They were _really_ pressed for time now!

"Come on, you two!" The irken reached over and picked up both robots, running to the door, and fiercely blasting it with his lasers. _Mother Irk..._ Nothing was happening. _No! Don't tell me the same dome rule applies to every source of escape we have in here!_ Zim searched around desperately for some means of escape, but all he could find was a place to keep the fire at bay longer. Zim raced over to the water pipes connected to the ceiling, and began climbing them.

"Wait, Master!" GIR cried, "the hybridy girl; we can't leave her!"

Zim glanced down at the young child, that was busy trying to claw her way out of her dome as the flames crept closer. "We have to GIR, we don't have a choice! There's no time for a rescue!"

"But, Master! We gotsta!" GIR was desperate, tears going down his cheeks.

_Yeah!_ Minimoose joined in, _if that were you in there, we'd save you whether we had the time to or not!_

Zim sighed irritably as he slid down the pipe. _Minions_, he decided, _don't play fair. _He quickly slammed a hammer through the dome. "Come on, smeet! We don't have all day! In fact, we barely have three minutes! MOVE!"

But the girl was too frightened, too petrified to move, not only of the flames; hundreds of creatures had approached her before, not one of them nice. She didn't trust this one either.

"Smeet, I said let's go!" He turned to leave her, but both his sidekicks gave him fierce glares, so Zim ran back and grabbed her arm, dragging her towards the pipe.

The child let out an inhuman shriek, and desperately tried to wrench away, crying.

"Silence! Zim is trying to help! If you want to be free to run out in your filthy streets once more, I suggest you _move!"_ He began advancing up the water pipe himself, and the child latched on to the pipe, right as the flames flooded the entire lab floor. She stared down fearfully and moved faster, as the flames began climbing higher.

Zim reached the top and crouched down low on the pipe, trying to stay as close to the ceiling as possible, both GIR, Minimoose, and the girl did the same.

_So this is it... _Zim always wondered what fire felt like.. Water was Irk's fire; it created the same effects, but Zim never actually felt the flames touch his skin before. _I wonder if it'll burn as much as water.. _"G-GIR, Minimoose, stay as far away from the flames as you can!"

"Master, how do we get out?" GIR cried fearfully, staring down at the growing blaze in terror.

"I...I don't...we can't.." he whispered, and all three heads jerked up to look at him. "Just try and keep away from the fire, maybe it won't go this high!" That was a lie, and Zim knew it. He only said that to reassure everyone, and himself. His boots were already getting hot as he spoke.

_Oh, Irk, I can't believe Zim is going to die like this... what a way to go.._

"Hey, space boy!" came a shout through a window. "Over here!"

Zim gasped. Was heaven calling him? "You came!" he cried joyfully. "Oh, you horrible, stinking human, you came!"

"Mm, yeah, nice to see you too.." He leaned over the window and held out his arms. "Jump, Zim! I'll catch you!"

Zim hesitated. That seemed a little risky. He motioned for GIR and Minimoose to get on his back and calculated the distance, taking a great big leap on his spider legs.

Dib clutched tightly on Zim's hand, grimacing as the sharp irken claws cut into his skin. Heaving hard, Dib backed up, and pulled all three out the window.

"Yes! The almighty ZIM is safe!" Zim pumped his fists victoriously.

"Uhh..what about that girl?" Dib asked, pointing to where the child was clinging to the water pipe.

_Oh, whoops, forgot about her._ Zim ran over to the window. "Smeet, jump!" he ordered. "We'll try to catch you!"

"Try to catch you? Oh yes, that's very consoling, Zim.."

"You have anything better?" He turned back to the child. "Jump, smeet!"

She backed away on the pipe, shaking her head, and trying to stay high above the flames.

"Come on, smeet!"

Cautiously, the child began taking baby steps, closer to the window. She whimpered as the fire nearly licked at her feet.

"Jump, kid!" Dib shouted, "hurry up and jump!"

The little girl clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and took a great leap – falling into the fire.

"No!" Dib gasped, "she isn't going to make it!"

The girl screamed as she went spiraling down into the flames, and was suddenly jerked to a halt by two mechanical hands holding her under her arms.

Zim grunted, struggling to pull up the child with his pack arms. "Dib, help me!"

The human grabbed a hold of the back of Zim's uniform and began pulling backwards. "Argh-!"

Zim panted, toppling back, his pak arms and the girl landing on his chest. He shoved both of them off, and dusted off his uniform.

"Wow, what's a little girl like her doing inside a science lab?" Dib pondered.

"I'll explain later, right now we don't really have the time? The lab is going to explode any minute!" He extended his spider legs. "Everyone, onto my back!" Zim yelped, his knees buckling as the heavy weight of one human child, two robots, and the little girl, suddenly crushed his back. Fighting to stay on his feet, Zim crouched all the way down on his spider legs, springing high into the air – right when the lab was detonated by an explosion underneath him.

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_(Aaaand I finally get to introduce my baby girl! It'll be so much more fun to upload now that my baby is in ^^ She, and a few other characters are mostly my only Ocs. This fic is mostly cannon._

_Story Artwork:_

_.com/gallery/#/d2spamd_

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_ .com/gallery/#/d2pd355)_


	16. Chapter 16

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be  
_Chapter 16 - Talia_

The fall to the ground was long, and Zim knew enough about the 'pavement' on earth, would be enough to seriously injure them, and probably throw both the injured smeet and human off his back.

Dib squinted his eyes shut and quickly hugged the irken tightly around the waist.

"Irk-! Careful human!" Zim snapped, "I'd prefer to keep my superior juices _in_ my squeedly spooch, thank you!"

"A fall this high will kill us!"

Zim chuckled. "Nonsense. You think Zim intended for us to fall SPLAT on the filthy earth grass?" Suddenly, two mechanical arms shot out of the sides of Zim's pak, and bit into a nearby oak tree, wrapping around and constricting a branch.

Dib yelped and held tight to the rest of the little passengers as they were abruptly yanked to the side as the pak arm was used as a tarzan rope, swinging them around the tree.

Zim held onto the tree and casually slid down it, like it was no problem – it was thirty feet to the bottom!

Stunned, Dib whipped around to look into the alien's face. "How on earth did a fall from that height not freak you out?"

The irken sneered, his conceit returning. "_Height?_" he scoffed. "You find that _high_, stink beast? Peh! Irken smeets climb trees thousands of feet high! Smeets, Dib, _smeets!_"

Mumbling to himself, Dib climbed off the irken and brushed the dirt off his trench coat. "Well, humans aren't _advanced_ as you stupid aliens are."

Zim smirked. "If we are so stupid, human, how come we are more advanced than you?"

"...Shut up."

Chuckle. "Well, human, you had said that your house had burned down, do you have some place else for us to go?"

"First off, Zim, I managed to save some of the house. Thankfully, the part of the house that holds the kitchen, bathroom, and the lab. We need to heal ourselves up. Then, onto Florida!"

"_Flooor-i-daa?_ this was not part of the plan, Dib monkey!" Zim shrieked, his eyes widening. "Just what planet is that?"

"It isn't a planet, Zim, it's a different part of the country; it's a few hours away. After we pack all we can from my old house, we depart to Florida; my family has a beautiful condo there."

"What is this 'condo' you speak of? Is it to be feared?"

Dib crooked a grin. "Hardly. Come on, my house is only about twenty minutes away from here."

Zim sighed an grimaced as pain shot up his spine from the stab wound. He crumpled to the ground, hissing in agony, and looking up into Dib's frightened face. "Just a little poke injury from that stupid dissecting monster," he explained casually, clutching onto the gaping wound.

"That isn't 'a little poke injury," Dib muttered, examining it, "it's deep, Zim. I'm going to need to stitch that." He looked thoughtful for a minute, putting his hands on his hips and looking out. "Here's hoping Mom's sewing stuff survived. In the meantime," he looked back at the alien on the ground. "We need to find a way to get you back to the house." His eyes wandered over to a rusty old contraption sticking out of a roadside ditch, and he smirked.

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"This is _soooooo_ humiliating!" Zim moaned, head hanging off the side of the wagon. "Zim REFUSES to use this horrible, smelly, degrading machine known as 'wagon!'"

Dib chuckled. "Hey, I needed to get you home somehow, and you certainly couldn't walk there yourself." He bent down and picked up the young girl. "And could you take the-" He was cut off by an abrupt swat across his face. The child was shrieking and screaming, and making such a fuss, Dib was worrying someone was going to suspect rape or murder. "Hey-hey! Calm down, kid, I won't hurt you!"

But she didn't stop screaming. The last forms that approached her always ended up stabbing and hurting her with some sort of horrible tool; she had lost her trust in everyone.

Quickly, Dib sat her down on Zim's chest. She seemed to stop screaming then, and instead, looked curiously into the irken's face, and seemingly intently into his red eyes.

"Oh sure," Zim muttered sourly, glaring at the human. "Get rid of my last shroud of dignity by putting the SMEET on my chest." He met the child's intrigued stare. She looked at him like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time. _Creepy kid._ He shifted uncomfortably and grimaced at the sour scent that assaulted his nostrils. _Oh dear, IRK, this smeet needs some method of cleaning!_

"Oh here, take these two as well." And before Zim could even register what was going on, he suddenly felt a tremendous weight on his face and saw nothing but gray. "Oh, lovely," he growled, "all aboard the irken express!"

Dib laughed. "Relax, space boy, we're almost there." He turned up a long shadowy path shaded by a trail of pine trees. Everything smelled and looked so peaceful, almost as if the town hadn't just been invaded by genocidal mad scientists. The tranquility came to an end once Dib cleared past the thicket leading to his house - or at least, what remained of it. The air was filled with nothing but gloom and ash, and Dib could make out the remnants of his room from the window. One entire half of the house was charred black. "Wow..it's amazing what fire can do, huh?"

Zim just shrugged, uninterested, and clearly not feeling the emotional impact Dib felt at the sight of the wreckage. "Eh."

Brokenly, and quiet, Dib pulled the wagon into the house and over to the slightly charred couch. "O-okay, I need to gather up food and supplies, and you, Zim, clean up you cuts and stuff, and clean up the kid."

Riled, Zim's fists clenched. "Why me? Zim does not take care of smeets!"

"Zim, _please!_" Dib was aghast. "I have a lot of things to do before we go, just take care of her!"

Zim snarled and cursed in iken under his breath, but he obediently grabbed the handle of the wagon and began limping towards the bathroom, rummaging around for – what did the humans call it? S-oa-p. Yes, that's it. "Alright, smeet, it's time to be dunked in a vat of horrible burning liquid."

The young girl practically crumpled to the ground, all color draining from her face.

Zim quirked an eyebrow. "What?" Then, he realized his mistake, and rephrased the sentence in a better way so the child would understand him. "It's time for a bath."

She relaxed instantly, and her shoulders fell in relief, as she stepped towards the creature, watching in wonderment as a clear, warm liquid poured from the tap. Hesitantly, she reached forward and touched it, yelping as the strange liquid took a different form and clung to her fingertips. She shrieked and flung her hand, wildly, trying to fling the strange little burs off her hands.

Zim blinked, observing this, inwardly chuckling. _That's about the same reaction I gave when water first touched my skin._ "Have you never bathed before, smeet?"

The child tilted her head in confusion, not seeming to be able to understand what he was asking. _Bath?_ it looked like she was thinking.

"Yes. Baths," Zim responded, "it's what human smeets do to get clean so they don't stink as bad as you. It doesn't hurt," he promised.

She looked timidly at the liquid that had filled the tub, and back at Zim, wondering what happens next.

"Alright then, smeet," Zim muttered, as he took a hold of the bottom of the young girl's shirt.

She immediately froze as part of her shirt was peeled off, and started screeching and clawing at him. No, no! The other terrible creatures had undressed her so many times, and then had done all sorts of things: stabbed at her with nail like objects, cutting her with scalpels, burning her, beating her... Suspecting what might happen next, she struggled with all her might, fighting and biting against him.

"Augh-augh! Smeet!" Zim gasped, trying to wrangle the child. "What is your problem?" He managed to pull off her pants and undergarments – instantly freezing in shock.

The girl lay there in a protective heap on the floor, sobbing harshly and trembling. From neck to toe, her body was nothing but scars; some woven in and indenting her skin, others swelling out abnormally, all of them very deep and long.

Zim swallowed hard, something shifted in his chest. "Mother Irk...DIIIIB!" He heard the sound of racing footsteps, and suddenly, breathless, the human burst through the door. "What? What? What's wr-" He caught sight of the sobbing child on the floor. "Oh my god.." He knelt down beside the child, inspecting her every scar, cut, and bruise. He noticed she still had a few fresh autopsy cuts on her chest. "Wh-what did those monsters do to her?"

"I don't know," Zim muttered. "no wonder she's so frightened of every little thing. I can see they've dissected her a few times..."

Dib almost felt like crying. She was just an innocent little child. How could Darkbooty do this? "B-be gentle when you bathe her, Zim"

Zim looked afraid to, fearing his hard irken claws might harm her more. "O-kay..." Very gently, he picked the child up; she was still wailing, and tensed up when the alien picked her up. Zim positioned her over the tub, about to sit her in it.

The child now clung to him in terror, she had no idea what this weird liquid did, and she didn't want to find out either.

"Calm down, smeet, it is just a bath. It will not hurt! ...At least, it won't hurt _you._"

She didn't relax too much to his words. She had heard them many times at the lab; the mockingly cruel tones telling her it wouldn't hurt, but this creature sounded sincere. She peered down at the water; it rippled lightly when her tears hit it.

Zim sat the girl in the silver tub, watching as she tensed fearfully, and then relaxed, almost smiling at the warm comfort the water brought. Reaching into his pak, he took out some paste and slathered most of his body in it, looking back at the child's questioning face. "What? Oh, this? This is just so the FILTHY earth water doesn't burn Zim's superior skin." He reached into the water and pulled out a cloth, showing how his entire arm remained well protected. "See?"

She mimicked his movements, holding up her arm that dripped with water and looking at him.

"Water won't hurt you, at least, not the outside of your body. Don't swallow any of it, I don't know what other species you are, and your organs may react negatively to the substance."

She tilted her head, not quite understanding any of the complicated words he used.

Huff. "The water might hurt you inside if you swallow it!"

The child nodded slowly, seeming to understand, and she flapped a little hand in the water, making a few droplets hit Zim.

The irken flinched as the water touched his face, thankful he was wearing paste. He reached over onto one of the membrane's shelves and picked up a toy boat, handing it to the girl.

Taking it in her hands, she looked at it confused, then up at Zim.

"It's a toy, smeet. Something to keep you entertained while you're getting bathed."

She blinked at him, then back at the boat, and started gently gliding the little toy through the water, clapping in excitement. She yelped as a downpour of water suddenly flooded down her face, and her hair drooped into her eyes. She cried out further, when she felt something scrubbing her head, and realized it was the washcloth. Her fear quickly melted away in content when the washcloth brought a nice head massage.

Zim continued gently scrubbing the months of dirt and grime off of her, grimacing at how the water soon turned brown. After applying some sweet strawberry scented shampoo, and rinsing her hair thoroughly, Zim could finally make out the color of her hair. It was a vibrant dark purple, and it fell all the way to her knees. Zim could see her skin too, it wasn't dark as he thought, it was a pale peach, and her eyes were wide amethyst orbs. This child could certainly surpass the earth standards for adorable. "So..smeet," Zim decided to make some conversation, "what is your name?"

The child didn't answer, and only looked down into the water, a nervous look on her face.

Zim lost his temper. (Surprise, surprise.) "Smeet, Zim asked you a question and wants an answer!" he demanded sharply.

She startled and turned to him, shaking fearfully, before bawling out.

_Oy.._ Zim rubbed his temples as his brain fought with him.

_Why on earth is ZIM taking care of a stupid kid?_ angry griped.

_Don't be so hostile!_ compassion scolded, _the child has already experienced enough verbal and physical abuse where she came from; she doesn't need it here too!_

_Zim is an invader! Invaders need no one!_

_That doesn't mean you should just rain further misery down on her. At least try and curb your temper._

Zim sighed as she continued her wails, and he began to focus the scrubbing on her head and back, since those were apparently the magic soothing spots, and he was right! Her cries gradually started to quiet until they were nothing more but small little sniffles and she went back to playing with her boat. "Alright," Zim gave her a thorough rinse and lifted her out of the tub, and into a towel, "we're done."

The girl pouted a little, she'd like to have stayed in the water longer; it was so warm and comforting – not to mention she loved that boat. She snuggled into the warmth of the towel.

Zim grimaced in disgust as the tub drained months of filth, guck, and grime of being condemned in a cell where you'd barely the room to move. He rinsed off the toy boat and gave it to the child, who clung to it tightly. "Now, if we could only find some clothes for you," he muttered, "Dib!" he called out into the hall way. "Do you have anything for the smeet to wear?"

"Yep," Dib called back, digging through his sister's closet. "I have a few of Gaz's old dresses."

Zim had to laugh. "Your sister actually wears _dresses?_"

"No, but she used to, back when she wasn't so.." he shuddered," dark." He pulled out a few sweet little outfits. "These should fit her just fine." He came back into the bathroom and held up a few dresses in front of the child. "Point to the one you want."

After a few moments of thinking, she pointed to a cute little purple one that had a little apron and straps.

"Alright then, Zim dress her while I go pack the rest of Gaz's old clothes."

The irken sighed as his hands fell to his sides and he glared up at the ceiling. "Why me?" Unraveling the towel from the child, he slipped on her underclothes and socks, then the little purple dress. "Okay, Dib, she's ready."

Dib briefly peeked in to check up on them, and his eyes went wide. "Zim!" He stared in bewilderment at the very confused little girl who had one arm in the neck hole, her shoes on the wrong feet, and messy hair that was flinging everywhere. "That's not how you dress someone!"

Zim huffed out irritably. "Well, excuuuuuuuuse me, hyuman!" he snapped, "Zim doesn't exactly have much experience dressing a human smeet!"

Sighing heavily, Dib bent down to the child and began carefully leading her arm into the right hole and rearranging her shoes. "Hand me the hairbrush, Zim."

Zim reached up to the counter and took down a large flat bristly thing. "This?"

Curious, the girl looked up at the hairbrush, whimpering at the sight of the sharp looking bristles. What was that thing? What were they going to do to her?

Dib picked her up and sat her down on the counter, running the brush down her silky purple hair. "Such beautiful hair," he mused, "it reminds me of my mother's hair.." As he combed through it, he pinched a handful together and tied it with a bow, doing the same to the other side. The girl now had nice, soft and clean long pony tails. She twirled slowly, admiring her pretty little outfit and looking back at the two creatures, shocked that they were being so nice to her. Dib bent down to the girl's level, smiling at her. "I bet you're hungry. When was the last time you were fed?"

She titled her head, not seeming to know.

"Would you like something to eat?"

There was no response from her for a minute as she tried to figure out what Dib was asking. When she made her decision on yes, she still didn't know what she was agreeing to, but somehow trusted these two. She nodded.

"Okay, I'll go make us all some omelets." He started to leave the bathroom, but her little voice stopped him.

"Talia.."

Both Zim and Dib turned to her. "What?"

"Talia," she repeated in a soft angelic tone, "ma' neme' is Tailia.."

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_(I'm excited, because we're only a few chapters away, before I can post my mini fics! :D Hope you all enjoy my baby!)_


	17. Chapter 17

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be  
_Chapter 17 - NEVER Go On A Plane With GIR_

Zim grunted as he struggled to keep a hold of the eggs, milk, cheese, butter, taco kits, chips, candy, lettuce, broccoli, carrots, etc.. "Are we done yet?" came his voice from somewhere under the mountain of food. "Zim cannot hold on much longer!"

Dib sighed as he slowly took his time, checking every fruit and vegetable over. "Hmmm...what one is fresher? This orange looks juicer.. Oh, but the other one is _bigger.._"

"So get them both!" Zim squeaked, his knees buckling from the weight. "I don't care!"

"Hmm...no...we don't have the money for both.."

"Then don't get them!"

"But we need oranges!"

"SO MAKE UP YOUR MIND, HUMAN!" he screamed, grip tightening on his parcels.

"Ya got my tacos yet?" GIR questioned up to his master. His eyes went wide hungrily as he spotted the painted pictures of his beloved Mexican food box. "Tacos!"

"No, GIR, DON-!" The irken was cut off as he suddenly tumbled back, eggs, milk, and everything flying through the air.

Oblivious to everything but his tacos, GIR sat on his master's face and began sucking on the taco box.

"Okay, done," Dib said as he slipped the juicer orange into a plastic bag.

"...You did that on purpose," came Zim's muffled growl.

"Who, me? Naaaaaaw," Dib grinned, piling the groceries into a nearby abandoned cart. "Hey, where's Talia?"

"..."

"_Zim?_"

"Um... that way," Zim mumbled, pointing over to a cookie aisle. "No..wait...umm...she's over there!" Playing a GIR losing his tracking device, he pointed into the opposite direction.

"_Zim!_ You were supposed to watch her!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Zim said sarcastically, shoving a remaining gravy box off his chest. "I was a bit busy DYING SLOWLY UNDER THE MOUNT OF SMELLY HUMAN FILTH!"

Face palm. "Talia!" Dib called, running down each aisle. "Taliaaaaaa!"

"Ah'm ovah here!" she called from a nearby toy aisle, waving towards him.

"Oh, thank goodness," Dib breathed, holding his chest. "Zim, I found her! Move the cart over to the toy isle!"

Muttering irken profanity under his breath, Zim begrudgingly took a hold of the cart and rolled it down the aisle. "Can we leave _yet?_" he whined. "This entire place smells like humans!"

Ignoring his griping, Dib's eyes wandered to where Talia's eyes were on; a bouncy ball. He chuckled. "Looks like the kid found the toys."

In response, Talia pointed up to the bouncy ball. "Whaz'at?"

"That? Oh, it's a toy, Talia."

"Boat?"

"Close, _ball._"

"A bawe?"

"Yeah," Dib picked it up and dribbled it a few times. "See? It bounces."

She stared at the toy, deeply intrigued as she tried to bounce it, squealing in delight when she did.

Dib smiled a little. "How about I let you pick out some toys? You need _something_ to do while we're on the plane."

"I ge'a' toy?"

"Yep. Go ahead and pick out three of them; nothing _too_ expensive, please."

Excited, Talia hopped and clapped. "Yay!"

Meanwhile, Zim could see GIR's little eyeballs tightly glued to the entire toy aisle. _Hmm...well, he's been through a lot. He's been beaten to a pulp by the humans, not to mention he saved my life back at the lab. He deserves a little something._ "You may do the same, GIR," he said loudly, breaking the robot from his thoughts. "I suppose I'll let you pick out a toy from here." _If it'll keep you out of my antennae while we're on the plane._

"Yaaaaaaaay!" GIR cheered, "I's gonna go on a SHOPPIN' SPREE!" And with that, he took off down the isle, Talia trailing behind.

"Just one toy!" Zim yelled quickly. "Zim doesn't have very many monnies!"

Dib followed Talia into the girl aisle; she had grabbed a nearby colouring book. "Bawe!" With that, she threw it down on ground. Dib winced at the noise and carefully cleaned off the book. "No, Talia, that's a colouring book."

"Cowor'n boot?"

"Yep. Colouring book." Dib took out a few crayons and dragged them over the inside of a black and white sun.

The child marvelled at how the vibrant colors suddenly appeared on the paper, as if by magic. "Ouuu... Pwetty!"

"Want this too?"

She nodded rapidly.

Dib smiled and threw it in the cart with the rest of the items. "One more thing and then we'll go. I still have some of my sisters old toys, anyways."

She toddled back down into the aisle, looking around, and then making her decision on a baby doll.

Dib smiled. "You want that one, Talia?"

She nodded, peering up at the doll with a questioning look on her face. "What'z'it?"

"That's a baby doll," Dib explained. "It's a toy...umm.."

"Smeet," Zim said simply, engrossed in a staring match with a nearby Barbie doll. "Are you almost done, GIR?"

"I pickded!" GIR chirped, holding up a fair sized toy barn. "It's got PIGGIES in it! 'N cows!"

Zim's eyes went wide. "Mother irk, how much is that _dookie_ scented..thing?"

"Umm..." GIR rolled back on the ground, laughing. "I reeeeeally don't know!"

Rubbing his temples, Zim lifted the toy into the cart. "Alright, now can we leave this place yet, Dib? It smells like ham...Dib?"

Dib had his head in his shopping list, muttering things like "check" and "too expensive."

"DIB!"

"Oh! What is it?"

"I SAID I WANT TO LEEEAVE!"

Sigh. "Fine. Just let me cash the purchases."

Grumbling and mumbling to himself like Zim usually did, he picked up both Talia and GIR and seated them in the cart. "Come on, Minimoose, let's go!"

Minimoose was busy staring so intently at a coloured cube puzzle.

Sigh. "Fine, you can get the weird...cube. Just come on!"

Uttering what seemed like a squeal of delight, Minimoose wrapped one of his nubby antlers around the cube and happily carried it along.

The checkup counter wasn't much better, and Zim was griping all the more at the length of the line, while the kids kept themselves busy with their new toys.

"Are we done yeeet?" Zim whined, "I want to gooo!"

"Zim, shut up!" Dib hissed. "Everyone is looking at us and I'm trying to count up these items in my head, so, shh!"

"You may want to keep an eye on the smeet...she seems hypnotized." He quirked an eyebrow. "GIR as well.." Both he and Dib followed the kid's eyes to a stand of rainbow carnival sized lollipops.

Heaving an annoyed sigh, they grabbed the lollipops and handed them to the waiting children's hands, while throwing another bill on the counter.

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"That was excruciating," Zim moaned, "it was so hot and smelly in there!"

"Yes, well, prepare yourself Zim because planes usually smell like vomit."

The irken made a face. "Disgusting! Why do you humans choose to throw your stomach contents all over an aircraft?"

Dib chuckled as he handed in their boarding passes. "It's not really their fault. Being at such a high altitude can make people feel really nauseous. "

"Peh! Pathetic humans... The only time irkens throw up their squeedly spooch content is when they maybe have Irken Calosis."

"What's that?"

"I'll explain it later, we're about to board!" Hastily, Zim turned to GIR and changed his little boy disguise to his green dog costume. "Okay, GIR, you're going with the other pets."

GIR wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad. "But...I wanted ta' sit on the plane with you," he pouted.

"Yes, well, this way you get to meet new friends! (And you'll be out of our way)"

GIR shrugged a little, yelping as one of the security guards took a hold of his collar and threw him in a pet carrier, pushing him down a conveyor belt.

"I hope it'll be alright," Zim muttered.

"Oh, GIR will be fine," Dib assured, "it's just for a few-"

"It's not GIR, it's the other animals I'm worried about! See, GIR is pretty friendly to humans...not to other animals.."

"...Oh."

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GIR held on to the bars of his cage as he was carelessly tossed into the cargo hold with the rest of the pets. He glared up through a hole in his cage at the flight attendants; they weren't very gentle. He curled up at the back of his cage, and peered out into the cargo hold. The amount of pets that were there was amazing! There were all sorts of animals; puppies, kittens, lizards, fish, hamsters, gerbils, and even a few pigs!

"Ouuu..." He sniffed out at the beautiful aroma that was coming through his cage, and crept closer to see what it was: tuna. Licking his lips, GIR stared at a nervous little kitten in front of him that was holding her tuna snack tightly in one paw, as she looked back fearfully at him.

_Tuuunaaaa..._

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"I still don't see him," Zim muttered, glancing at the cabin Dib was pointing at.

"Oh, come _on_, Zim!" Dib was exasperated. "How can you not see it? Your eyes take up nearly your entire head!" He pointed between a few men by the cabin couch. "See it now? He's in front of the ice cooler!"

"Ohhh! _There's_ Waldo!" Triumphant, Zim stood on his seat, pumping his fists. "Yes, yees! Victory for ZIIIIIM!"

"Sir!" one of the nearby flight attendants shouted.

Embarrassed, Dib yanked Zim back down on his seat. "I'm sorry, miss, he just gets a little carried away when he wins sometimes."

She shook her head. "No, it's not that," she answered quickly. "We're having trouble with your puppy, sir."

Both Dib and Zim slumped down against their seats. "Ohhh..._GIR.._"

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"TUNAAAAAAA!" GIR shouted, chasing a poor distressed kitten around the room for her tuna snack. "Gimmie tunaaa!"

A few other animals were running around the room in a panic, having been desperately trying to get out and away from the mad green dog.

Hissing, the kitten climbed up onto a nearby crate, bearing her teeth at the idiotic little threat to her fish.

"TUNAAAAA!" GIR screamed, flying through the air on his jets. He tackled the poor kitten to the ground and her fish went flying.

"_GIR!_" Zim yelled, hands on his hips at the entrance. "Stop that _right now!_"

The little SIR unit toddled towards his master, grinning. "Hey, Master! Want some tunaaa?"

Zim sighed and glowered down at the little robot dog. "I cannot take you _anywhere_, GIR. Why can't you be more like Talia? She's...so well behaved!"

GIR's eyes widened for a split second, before they narrowed, and Zim snatched him by the paw.

From the corner of his eye, Zim could see a trembling, frazzled little kitten wobbling her way back to her crate, mewing incoherently. "I can't believe I'm saying this about an earth creature, but, that poor cat!" He shook his head. "She's going to need weeks of therapy!"

"And probably organ transplants," Dib added.

Sighing, Zim made his way back to their seats, dragging a very upset looking little robot, and he plopped him in the seat beside Talia, who had been wondering what the heck had been going on this entire time. "Now you _sit!_" Zim ordered, "and...just stay out of trouble, would you!"

GIR glared at the ground and crossed his arms, but his sour mood dissipated like rainclouds on a sunny day when Dib brought out his toy barn. Squealing, he eagerly began playing with the farm animals and acting out a scene.

Talia tried to get back to coloring, but she became too intrigued by the colorful little farm toys. She reached out and grabbed one of the abandoned little chickens still in the barn.

"Hey!" GIR cried angrily, trying to swipe it back. "That's mine! Gimmie!"

"Naah!" Talia held it just out of his reach, and she kicked GIR in the stomach with a foot. "Mine!"

GIR pulled a strand of her purple hair, and began wrestling to get his toy back. "Gimmiiiiie!"

Furious, Zim snatched the toy from both their hands, and glared down at them. "What is going on here?"

Talia just shrugged and went back to her colouring book, giving up on the toy chicken, but GIR wasn't about to let the subject drop.

"Give it back!" he shouted, trying to grab his chicken from his master's hand.

"Stop it, GIR! I'm not giving it back until you learn to play better!"

Frustrated with everything, GIR took it out on his master, kicking him hard in the shin, which probably wasn't the _best_ idea.

Doubling over in pain and fury, Zim, now livid, roughly lifted the robot off his seat enough to give his fuzzy green bottom a hard smack. "That is _enough!_"

GIR yelped, more startled than anything, he looked back at his master, his eyes quickly filling with tears, and his mouth trembled.

Zim's eyes widened a little. _Oh dookie...maybe that wasn't a very good idea..._

"...WaaaAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Talia jumped in her seat, her purple crayon flying from her hand; her lip began to tremble and within seconds, she had joined in on GIR's wailing.

Zim yanked at his antennae from under his wig, and Dib just put his face in his hands.

"Oh sure, Zim, yeah spank him, that'll keep him quiet!" Dib snapped.

"He kicked me!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Zim clamped a hand over GIR's mouth. "Be quiet!" he hissed, "people are looking at us!"

GIR twisted his head away from Zim's hand, crying even louder.

"Zim!" Dib sighed, aghast. "That's not how you cheer someone up! Watch this.." He pulled GIR into his lap and began bouncing the robot up and down on his knee.

GIR's cries gradually subsided, and he sniffled, looking up at Dib.

Dib smiled and gently patted the SIR unit's back, watching as GIR swiveled in bliss to the gentle touch. "See?"

Zim just glared at the human, he hated when he did things better than him, even if it was just comforting GIR. He looked over to where Talia was still bawling and tried to copy what Dib was doing, pulling her onto his knee. However, he bounced her a little too roughly and more so whacked then patted her back, causing the poor girl to be bounced _off_ his knee and onto the floor. "...Oops.."

Dib face palmed. "Zim, don't ever have children..."

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Two hours later, GIR still hadn't gotten his chicken back, and he played by himself quietly, with his toy cows.

Talia looked over at the toys, longing to play with them, and GIR caught her staring. She quickly turned her head and went back to colouring. She turned her head back to him when she felt a tap on her shoulder and saw GIR holding out one of his toy cows to her. She pointed to herself as if to say "for me?", and GIR and nodded. Beaming, Talia took the toy from him and moved a little closer into him, playing in the toy barn with GIR.

Zim smiled over at GIR, who averted his eyes, and Zim couldn't tell if he was mad at him or guilty from earlier. "GIR," he said gently, and the robot slowly turned his head to look at him. He pulled the toy chicken from his pak and tossed it to the SIR unit, who caught it gleefully and cuddled it, smiling at his master. "Yaay! Chicky returned!" he cheered, and Talia clapped along.

Zim leaned his back against the chair, watching the clouds pass by. "How much longer 'til we reach Florida, Dib?"

Yawn. "A few hours... why don't we just-...oh...oh my.."

Zim raised an eyebrow, staring awkwardly at the human. "What? What's wrong?"

Dib only pointed upward to one of the baggage holders, and Zim immediately paled.

"Oh, dookie..._GIIIIIIIR!_"

GIR, with his usual wonderfully short attention span had abandoned his toys and was now seated atop a suitcase, rummaging through an old lady's purse and another briefcase. "Ouuuuu!" He held up a bra. "What's this do?" And put it on his eyes, giggling like a maniac.

By now, the owner of the bags, an elderly woman, caught sight of something moving above her, and a few of her clothes, and jewelry had been tossed to the ground. "Stuartess!" she shrieked, "this mad dog is going through my stuff!"

"GIR!" Zim yelled. "Get down from there right now!"

The little robot avoided every grabbing hand that attempted to snatch him off the cargo hold, and as he ran, more and more suitcases flew open and everything fell to the floor. "CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICKEEEN!" GIR screeched as he darted around the room, being chased by a group of angry passengers.

Dib stared open mouth at the commotion, and shook his head slowly. "Note to self: never _ever_ take GIR on a plane.."

Zim just moaned, burying his head in his hands, and he didn't come out until they reached Florida.

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_(*rofl* Oh, GIR, what would they do without you, honestly...)_


	18. Chapter 18

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be  
_Chapter 18 - Sepia and Darkness_

_Zim's eyes opened, expecting to be awakened by the nauseating scent of vomit, and perhaps baked beans from Dib's previous lunch, but what had the blessing to his eyes was not something he thought he'd ever see again. Sitting up, he realized he was in his old room - _very _old room. One he hadn't seen since he was a smeet. He was in his old purple bed, on his little nightstand were all sorts of plastic laser guns and ships. The room glinted with a warm sepia tone, and held the familiar comfort of family._

_"Where am I?" he breathed out, eyes as wide as could be. Reaching out to pull off the covers, his hand touched something that was all too familiar, soft, and worn. "Tin-tin.." he whispered, slack jawed in amazement. He turned the plush robot over in his hands and stuck his finger in between the leg and the waist. _It even has the same leg rip.. _He reached further down under the covers, feeling a lump, freezing when he heard a high pitched robotic giggle. He turned to Tin-tin for explanation, but then realized he had his fingers on the bottom of GIR's foot. "G-GIR?"_

_The little robot happily sprung up from under he covers and smiled at him. "Hiya, Master!"_

_Zim studied the robot carefully, he was completely healed; the leftover scars Darkbooty had made were no longer visible. Looking down at himself, Zim realized _he _was totally healed as well! The ugly long stab wound on his back had totally cleared up. "Are we...am I...home?"_

_Confused, GIR tilted his head and giggled adorably, tongue lolling out. "'Course we are, silly! Where else would we be?"_

_Zim's antennae perked up to the sound of loud laughter coming from the kitchen; the voice sounded vaguely familiar. He pulled off the rest of the blankets and cautiously made his way through the room, afraid to touch anything – even the floor. "Smeet...is that..you?" he asked, peering around the corner._

_"Boo!" a little voice shouted, then laughed at his startled response. "Bremsuh', yer up!"_

_Zim's antenna tilted to the side. "Bremseau?" _Brother?

_The child giggled, playing with her dress. "M''min t'ought you'd sweep all DAY!"_

_Eyes wide, he stared at her. "M-Mamin?"_

_She seemed confused. "Why yer eyes awe wide? M'amin's 'n da kit'en!"_

_"Kitchen? But how-? What..." His voice trailed off as he began taking in the rest of his surroundings. There was the old beige closet door with the chip in it, from when he had broken it as a smeet. The same cool burgundy coloured tile floor, even the same annoying Grabbit plant that constantly tried to make a snack out of his antennae._

_"Well, look who finally decided to get out of bed!" a voice as soft as velvet, and innocent as an angel spoke, "we were worried you'd sleep all day.!"_

_ Zim gasped sharply, stumbling back a few steps and clutching tightly to the bark door fame. "Ma..." It was her, it really was her. The same soft emerald eyes, the same meter long antennae, curled in to the back of her head with a little ring decorating the end of it. The same white purple apron and orange dress...the same irken he never thought he'd see again. "Mamin.."_

_Her loving smile faded, to one of concern and confusion. "Sweetie, you've gone white!" She hurried over to him, kneeling down and putting her hands on his shoulder. "Are you okay, darling? Oh – your hands are as cold as ice!" She lovingly brushed back his antennae. "Are you getting sick?"_

_Zim could barely speak right, his voice cracking, as his eyes filled to the brim with tears. "I-I'm fine, j-just a b-big nightmare is all.." He swallowed a sob, and felt his mother's warm arms around him._

_"It's over now," she soothed, "must have been a bad one to make my little smeet act like this!"_

_He clung to her tightly, shaking. "It was a horrible one, Mamin...th-the worst one I've ever had.."_

_"Would you like some orange juice, young Master?" A feminine robotic tone inquired._

_Zim's wide eyes stared over his mother's shoulder. "BELL!"_

_She stared back at him, confused. "Yes, young Master?"_

_"You're here!"_

_"...As much as you are," she responded slowly, staring up at her master for answers._

_"Zimmy isn't feeling very well today," Mala explained, picking him up and sitting him down one one of the couches. "But I'm sure he'll love some juice, BELL."_

_The SIR unit saluted in response, and strode off towards the kitchen._

_Meanwhile, it hadn't dawned on Zim the fact that this wasn't really happening, the only thing that was going through his head was the fact that he was home – _actually _home. Irk, with his mother, and where he belonged. Never thinking he'd ever feel this content again, Zim snuggled into the old forgotten couch, smiling and scooping up a little grey blur that flew by him, holding him in his lap._

_GIR, in response, snuggled into his Master's chest and smiled up at him, looking just as content. Of course, when was GIR _not _happy? "So, you had a bad dweeeeam?" he asked sadly._

_"A horrible one," Zim whispered with a shudder, "but it's all over now," he finished, beaming._

_GIR grinned, his tongue lolling out, and scooted over to make room for Mala, who sat in between them. "Hi, Gazame, we's TALKIN' 'bout CHEESE!"_

_Zim's eyes widened a little more. _Gazame? Grandmother?

_Mala just chuckled and lovingly poked GIR's little belly. "That's good, GIR, but for now, dear, I want to talk to your master."  
__  
"Okie-dokie!" GIR chirped, hopping off the couch and going to torment BELL._

_Mala grinned, shaking her head. "Gotta love that little robot.."_

_"Y-yeah.."_

_She took something off a breakfast tray. "Here's your juice, love," and handed him a small purple striped cup._

_"Th-thank you, Mamin," Zim whispered, taking a tentative sip of the sweet liquid. Good old fashioned Irken juice._

_"Want to watch some T.V?" Mala questioned, shaking a remote in her hand._

_Unable to really respond, Zim just nodded from behind his cup._

_Mala clicked on the television set, and scooted closer to her smeet, putting her arm around him._

_Zim swiveled in bliss, his antennae falling back a little as he basked in the warmth and love of his mother. He didn't watch the T.V, but only kept his eyes on her._

_Noticing this, she laughed and brushed his antennae back once more. "What's with you, today? You look like you're seeing me for the first time!"_

_"P-pretty much," Zim said, cracking a grin. He scooted closer to her, and in response, she smoothed her hand over his antennae, causing Zim to just melt. Rubbing an irken's antennae was like scratching a dog behind the ear. Zim buried into his mother's side as the room began to get much chillier. He shivered. "Mamin, can you turn the heat up, please?" There was no response from her, and Zim realized her arm was becoming ice cold. "Mamin?" Confused, Zim stared up at her, and was startled when he realized the room was slowly filling with darkness; he couldn't see her face anymore. "Mamin!" He shivered, breathing out icy air. Mala's ice cold grip tightened painfully around him and Zim whimpered, trying to wrench free. "Mamin, you're hurting me!" There was still no response, and the sounds of high pitched childish laughter began to fade out, as did GIR and BELL's silhouettes. "GIR-!" He struggled hard against his mother's hold. "Ow-! Mamin, let go!" He was breathing hard; he needed to get to GIR before he completely faded as well. "Mamin, _let me go!_" Darkness, a very eerie darkness flooded through the room. The seat Zim was siting on became hard and cold. Mala's arm had become scaly and slimy. Almost hyperventilating, Zim whipped his head the other direction – only to find GIR and BELL had completely disappeared. "No-!"_

_"ZiZZZiiim," a gravelly, demonic voice droned._

_Zim let out a frantic cry, attempting to wrench off the couch. "STOP!" He squinted his eyes shut as a single white light came on, illuminating his worst nightmare. _A Warpatho... _One of Irk's most deadly creatures. They were captured for one reason only: to torture. An irken – sometimes a smeet, was thrown into a cell with the monster for act of treason, usually. The warpatho's spiny scaly tentacles slowly made their way to and inside its victim, laying poisonous eggs somewhere in the squeedly spooch or in other internal organs. The eggs soaked up the nutrients from its victim for over 1000 years, causing unbearable pain, unless any kind soul would surgically remove them. Even then, it was __still a painful process._

_Becoming hysterical as the tentacles cruelly caressed his face with a sadistic pleasure, Zim began frantically jerking back and forth – only to find he was shackled to the floor. "MAMIN!"_

_"Ziiiiim..."_

_The taunting voice was the worst part, and it was coming from the Warpatho. Many irkens – the ones that had been given the honor to torment the victim, used speakers to give the Warpatho a voice. Some disguised it to cause even more fear, others just helped train the beasts to speak. This one had been taught to speak._

_"ZZZiiim..hold still, I cannot properly plant my young insside you if you keep thrasshing like thissss."_

_Jerking violently, and shrieking, Zim sucked in his breath in cold fear as the slimy tentacle slithered across his neck and up his forehead, mockingly touching one of his antenna, relishing in the sheer terror it was inflicting on the helpless irken._

_"Mamin-!" His voice caught in his throat, as he choked on one of the tentacles that slowly made their way down his throat. Thrashing, and trying to scream, Zim gagged on the tentacle, desperately clawing at it and trying to pull it from his throat. "Ma-!"_

MAMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Uttering a choked scream, Zim flew up from his seat, shaking and drenched in sweat. His antennae trembled in spasms under his wig, and his entire body shook violently. His eyes darted around; was he back? The irken turned his head, meeting Dib's sleeping face, that was somewhat against his shoulder. "D-ib?"

The sleeping human belched baked beans gas in his face as response, and Zim pulled back, gagging, and looking dizzy. Oh yeah, he was awake. Nothing smelt that bad in a dream.

"Master?"

Still frightened from his nightmare, Zim jumped a little, then looked into GIR's sweet and concerned face.

"You look like you's seen a GHOST!"

"I-I wish it was a ghost!" Zim cried, trembling more. "O-or a z-zombie, or even m-me on an autopsy table!" He hugged himself, shaking. "Anything is better than that-! _Anything!_"

GIR's eyes became extremely wide. "You's crying!" he exclaimed, pointing up to Zim's eyes.

"I-I am?" With a trembling finger, Zim reached up to his eye and brushed away a single wet tear, that was trembling as much as he was. "Huh.." It was a surprise to see he had cried even one stray tear; he hadn't cried since he was a smeet! It was treason for an invader to shed tears, in fact, some could be killed or tortured painfully if they ever cried. Still, a Warpatho could make even the most strongest of warriors bawl.

"The dweam must have been bad if it made you leak!" GIR said sadly, affectionately running a little paw down his Master's face.

Still shaken from his horrific nightmare, the irken let out a shriek, as GIR's touch felt like the Warpatho's tentacle. "Get away!" He swatted the SIR unit off his lap, fearfully curling back into the back of the chair.

"I was just trying to help," GIR said injured, from the ground.

Sigh. "I know, GIR, sorry. I'm just shaken up is all." He pulled the robot back up into his lap, gripping the SIR unit tightly. From beside him, Zim heard Dib belch more baked beans as he began to stir. He tried to regain his composure before the human noticed something was wrong. It didn't work.

Yawn, "what's up, Space boy? You don't seem...very green anymore."

Zim sighed, irritated., and not feeling like explaining his despair and terror at the moment. "It was just..."

"A bad dweam," GIR finished for him.

"Oh yeah," Dib nodded understandingly, "I've had my share of those, ... One time, I ate bad chicken wings before I went to bed and I had the most gruesome spider...chicken..nightmare. _Trust me_, you'd never see terror like that in your life.."

Zim only shook his head. _If only you knew..._ he thought grimly.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving in Orlando Florida in about fifteen minutes. Flight attendants, please prepare for landing."_

Zim quietly scooted back into his chair, gazing longingly out the circular window, throughout the purple tinted clouds surrounding the plane. He exhaled, feeling a strange unwanted lump in his throat.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_"Ziiiiim!" a voice moaned after him as the little smeet scampered through the corridors. "Come back here and get some clothes on!"_

_Giggling, a naked, mischievous little smeet ducked under tables and chairs, avoiding every attempt his mother made to grab him._

_"Zim, I'm not kidding, young man!" His mother attempted a stern tone, but she couldn't help but grin a tiny bit as her naked smeet ran by.  
__  
"No, no, no! I'm not comin', Mamin!" he giggled, darting off to his room. Continuing to run, the smeet gasped and jerked his little feet to the side to stop himself before he slid into..._

_"Young Master!"_

_...BELL. Zim pouted and glared down at the ground, knowing his dash for freedom had been ended._

_The female SIR unit glowered down at him; she was only a tiny bit bigger than he was. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded sharply._

_"No clothes!" Zim scowled, stamping his little foot._

_"You cannot go running around naked, smeet, it does not work that way!" BELL took a motherly hold of his hand and dragged him back into his bedroom, where he was scooped up by his Mamin and sat on his bed._

_"Goodness, young man, what _am _I going to do with you?" Mala sighed, pulling his little purple shirt over his head._

_"Naaah! Mamiiiiin!" the smeet moaned, fighting against her hands._

_Sigh. "Yes, yes, I know.. no smeet likes clothes, but you have to wear them, darling."_

_"Nnnn..." The little irken sighed and his antennae fell back, defeated. "BELL doesn't like me..."_

_Mala gasped, staring down at her smeet. "Don't say that, darling, of course she does!"_

_"Of course she _doesn't_," Zim responded. "She's always bein' so mean ta' me!"_

_"Well..." She pulled up his little purple shirt and tickled his tummy. "You just need to learn not to be so difficult!"_

_Zim squealed with laughter and pushed away her hands, kicking and squirming. "Tahaha! Mamin!"_

_His mother punctuated her sentence with a loud raspberry to her smeet's tummy, really causing him to shriek out in both delight and laughter. "Come on you, let's get some breakfast, and then, young man, you need to be _cleaned._"_

_"Aw, _Mamin!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Almost chuckling to himself, Zim smiled at the fond memory and sat against the window. He had always had a tendency of getting on BELL's bad side; it was no wonder she hated him so much.. His Mamin always knew how to make him smile, even when he was at his lowest... She always..

...wait.. What was he _doing?_ Why was he thinking about this? He had much more important things to worry about other than his dead Mamin... Yet, try as he might, he couldn't shake her from his head, or BELL either.

_You're an invader, _the emotionless part of his brain told him sternly. _You aren't supposed to feel this...this.._ He couldn't name the emotion. _What is the point about being sad about something you can't even control? You can't bring her back! You shouldn't feel sad! You shouldn't feel anything! You're a cold...k..killing.._ Zim drifted away from his thoughts. That was what he was supposed to be, it was what irkens were trained for...to kill.

_You're an invader...you feel nothing..._

Painfully, Zim fell back into the chair, going back to staring at the passing clouds, surrounded by an emotion his entire "invader ego" couldn't comprehend.

Sadness.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Alright, Zim, you got everything?" Dib asked absently, as he pulled down a few packages from the cargo hold. "If you forget something, you'll never get it back."

"Uh-huh..."

Dib raised an eyebrow, puzzled. Why hadn't Zim responded with something like "I know how the system works, worm monkey!" or "shut up, no one likes you!" or "how did your head get _so_ big?" He certainly never expected a dull and almost.._sad_ "uh-huh..."

"You alright, Space boy?"

"I'm fine," Zim said with a dismissive shrug, averting his eyes back to the window.

"Okay, if you say so.."

After grabbing the rest of their baggage, cleaning up, preparing the kids, and paying for the damage GIR had caused, the gang was on their way. While being taken down the long escalator to the ground, Zim broke the silence,

"So, this is Florida, huh?"

Dib nodded skeptically. "..Yeah.." He sighed, waiting for Zim to rant about how bad it smelled, or perhaps he'd comment on the huge rolling oceans, or maybe even complain about the heat. But he didn't say any of that. In fact, he said..

_...nothing._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_(And we dip a bit into Zim's past; these frequent Warpatho nightmares are going to be eating at __him for a long time, until... well, you'll see. I'm aware irkens are artifically made, but there is a reason as to why Zim has a mother, and you'll see why._

_BTW, check my newest Zim and GIR one-shot. 'An act of disobedience leads GIR in HUGE trouble with Zim, followed by a painful lesson from his master' in "A Hard Lesson In Obedience" .net/s/6457868/1/)_


	19. Chapter 19

(**NOTE: You need to read my "Irktionary" to understand the many antennae gestures in this fic from now on.)**

IZ: What Will Be, Will Be  
_Chapter 19 - Everyone Has A Hard Time Sleeping At A Strange Place_

As proud and stubborn as Zim was, he had to admit that this "Flor-i-da" place was certainly incredible. The warmth from the sun was slightly comforting, but the salty air was rather nauseating.

"Interesting", he mused, "it certainly beats that horrible FILTHY earthen city we used to live in."

Dib grinned. "You betcha. This is a place I've gone to since I was just about two years old." He breathed in the scent of home, happily. "So many memories.."

Zim's antennae went back in contentment as the sun beamed down on his green skin. "It's warmer here too."

"That's because we're closer to the equator," Dib explained, as he dragged their suitcases towards the condo. "And, to make things even better, we have an ocean in our backyard!"

Zim shuddered violently at the thought of the burning liquid being so close to them. "H-has it ever gotten into the house?"

"Uh, once," Dib admitted, putting socks and underwear away. "But that was during a hurricane, and those don't happen _too_ often.."

Zim's antennae tilted in confusion. "Hurr-iii-caaaane? Is it like a...candy cane?"

"Goodness, no!" Wide eyes stared back at him as the closet doors closed. "Hurricanes are terrible tropical storms that kill many each year. They come from the ocean and bring deadly strong winds, floods, rain.."

Zim smirked a little, impressed. "Fascinating... I wish I had that bit of information when I was trying to destroy the human race."

With a loud guffaw, Dib zipped up his suitcase. "Yeah, good one, Space boy. Even your MIGHTY irken machinery would be no match for the power and strength behind such a massive tropical storm. Can you even _control_ the weather?"

"..."

Chuckle, "I didn't think so. Now, get unpacked and then we'll head out for dinner."

With narrowed magenta eyes, Zim subtly clicked his antennae behind his head at the human, and walked over to his suitcase. Still lost in the past memories of his Mameen and BELL, he didn't even notice who was _in_ the suitcase when he opened it.

"BOO!" GIR shouted, causing Zim to scream and stumble into the clothes hamper. "Oh, oops! Oh, sorry Master, I thought you was Talia!"

Holding his heart (if he had one), Zim glowered down at the robot, embarrassed and trying to regain his composure. "Wh-what were you doing in my suitcase, GIR?"

The idiotic little SIR unit giggled innocently, his tongue lolling out. "Oh, Talia and me were playin' hide 'n seek!"

Zim relaxed slightly. "Well...it is good to see you and the smeet getting along. You're certainly acting better than you were on the plane." He folded up some of the child's clothes and put them in a pile. "It seems like the smeet likes you."

GIR nodded absently, rolling back on his little bottom and holding onto his feet. "She likes you too."

Antenna up: "She does?"

"Yep. She tolded me," the little robot smiled, "-said she reeeeally likes us both. Oh, and Big head, too."

"Hm." Still not paying much attention, Zim casually strode across the room and began loading things onto an empty dresser, blowing off many specks of dust and grimacing as the disgusting fibers floated throughout the room.

Becoming a little irritated, GIR's antenna twitched. "Yer not even listening to me!"

Furious, Zim slammed something on the desk. "I am listening!" he snapped, "I'm just busy making up my room, because we are going to be here for a _long_ time!"

GIR looked a little offended as he smoothed a claw over the magenta quilt. "I like this room..It'll be fun to sleep here!"

Zim's answer was very curt and quick. "You're _not_ sleeping in here. That is NOT happening, GIR."

The robot gave an over ruling smirk. "Dib says it is."

"Dib is _not_ your master. I am. Whatever I say _GOES_." And that signaled the end of that discussion.

"But he said there's only two bedrooms here!" GIR protested. "He said me and Moose would have to stay with you, 'n Talia stays with him!"

With a long agonized whine, Zim fell back on the bed, causing GIR to bounce forward to the edge. "Nooooo! It's not fair! I want my OWN room!" Zim shouted, sounding like a bothered teen trying to get away from his annoying little brother. Which, was kind of the case..

"I guess he knows how much I looooove you!" GIR purred, leaning into the annoyed irken.

"And I guess he doesn't realize how much you KICK me in the night!" Zim shot back, shoving the robot off.

Gasp. "I do not!"

"Yes you do!"

"No I don't!"

"Yes you _do!_"

"No. I. DON'T!"

"Yes. You. DO!"

This continued on for about another two minutes, and it seemed like the empty argument was about to reach the level of eye gauging and turbo poke wars, so Zim changed the subject. "If you really insist on staying in here, I'll make up a little bed on the floor for you, okay?"

GIR sighed; that was probably the best he'd get out of Zim. "Okies.."

Huffing in his usual irritated way, Zim scooped up a cardboard box and threw a bunch of fuzzy blankets in it. "Good enough for you, _GIR?_"

The little robot circled the bed on all fours, inspecting every inch of the cardboard box. He reluctantly climbed in it and bounced a little bit, tapping his chin. "Hmm..."

Zim smirked a little, amused that his robot that probably had paperclips and walnuts for brains had to inspect something so thoroughly before he approved. "Is it to your liking, your highness?"

"Needs another blank - _augh!_" Before he could finish his sentence, Zim threw a large and heavy quilt on his head.

Laughing a little, Zim peered down at the moving lump under the quilt. "Enough blankets for you, GIR?"

The little robot peered out from under the covers, glaring at him. "Yer not funny.."

Grin, "I respectfully disagree.."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nightfall came before either of them even realized it. Time goes by fast when you're...unpacking. Dib and Talia receded to their own room, and Zim and GIR settled in their cool ocean view bedroom for the night. GIR fell asleep instantly; the day's events seemed to have tuckered the young robot out. In a room where Zim could clearly hear every sound of the ocean outside, his sleep was continuously disturbed by the horrifying sounds of the waves splashing outside of the condo. When he finally did fall asleep, it wasn't for long..

"Master!" a voice cried, fearfully. "_Master!_"

Zim's eyes flickered for a few seconds, catching the blurred image of a little gray thing in front of his face. "Nmm...what is it, GIR?" he yawned, sitting up in the bed. The robot's glowing cyan eyes illuminated the bedroom – as well as the crescent moon.

GIR gave a hiccuping sob, tears gently hitting and soaking into Zim's quilt. "I-I had a bad dweam.." he sniffed.

Rubbing his magenta eyes, Zim looked down at him, wearily. "I figured that. It's over now, though." He waved a hand towards the box bed on the floor. "Off to bed with you. Zim needs sleep too, you know."

GIR's grip tightened on Zim's uniform. "N-no! I don' wanna to go back there by myself!" he cried, shaking tearfully.

The irken narrowed is eyes, seeing where this conversation was going. "_No,_ GIR," he said sternly, ignoring the little antenna that drooped. "I already told you earlier today that you aren't coming up here, for ANY reason.."

Feeling a growing dread, GIR protested in a more tearful tone, "But, Master-!"

Zim shot up in the bed, causing GIR to tumble off his chest. "I said _no_, GIR!" he snapped. "Get back to your bed!"

GIR sat there, sinking down into the mattress, with a distressed look on his face.

"_GO_, GIR!" Zim repeated, flicking his wrist. "NOW. That is an ORDER!"

Antenna all the way back, the robot closed his eyes, hurt, and miserably crawled back to his bed, curling up into a quiet sobbing little ball.

Glowering at the SIR unit, Zim turned over to the other side, closing his eyes, and trying to fall back asleep. His antenna twitched in response to the little sniffles and sobs coming from the cardboard box. Wearily sitting up, he glanced over to the trembling little gray ball, and his hard glare softened a little. His brain, once again, began fighting with him.

_Have a heart, will you!_ compassion reprimanded. _Look at the poor little thing; he's scared out of his wits!_

_Eh, so what?_ heartless responded, _So he had a bad dream, big woof! Everyone needs to go through nightmares alone at some point in their life! You can't coddle him every time he comes crying to you..._

_What if it was you, and you had a dream about a Warpatho?_

Making his decision, Zim pulled down the covers and sighed. "GIR..."

The SIR unit sniffled quietly and turned his head to look up at Zim.

Averting his gaze to the ceiling, Zim patted the empty spot beside him, and GIR's eyes widened, looking at the spot, then Zim. "Do you want to come up, or not?"

GIR scrambled up onto the bed, and snuggled deep under the covers, and into Zim.

"Stay on your own side!" Zim hissed, trying to push the robot's head away. He may as well be trying to pull a moth away from a street light; it just couldn't be done. "Now, this is only for tonight, you hear me?"

The SIR unit bobbed his head, wiping away his tears, and curling up into Zim's side. "Thank you..."

Zim grunted in response, glaring halfheartedly down at the little robot, observing his fearful shakes. Zim felt a twinge of concern. _Hm.. that nightmare must have really given him a fright.._ He placed a single hand on the SIR unit's head, which stopped the shaking. He closed his eyes, drifting into a sleep that was _far_ from peaceful.

_Zim was gently roused from his sleep by the sound of waves receding. "H-huh?" He pushed himself up on the...sand? "_Now _where am I?" He didn't care where it was or who was there, he just wanted this dream to end if it was anything like the last one. The scenery was so enticing.. The pale blue water sparkled as if diamonds were embedded in every molecule. The sun rays made the shore rocks twinkle just as beautifully, and Zim felt an awed sense of peace and tranquility go over him. "Wow.."_

_"Hi, Master!" GIR peeped, cheerfully._

_Zim looked around for the source of the voice and realized the robot was lying under him. "Um...hey, GIR..what are you doing?"_

_"I am getting' a TAN!" GIR grinned goo-filly, turning over on his belly._

_Zim was about to point out the fact that GIR didn't have skin, when he felt someone tug his pant leg._

_"Br'msuh,, come pway n'da water wif me!"_

_Zim's eyes went wide in horror as he stumbled back. "Smeet, I can't go in the water!"_

_She rolled back on her feet, laughing. "Sure you can!" With that, she pulled the struggling and screeching irken into the shallows with her._

_Zim shrieked as he felt the cool sensation around his ankles and he waited for the burn...but nothing happened. Glancing down at the cool liquid, he scooped up a handful and let it drip off his hands. "What the..?" Why wasn't he getting a reaction? By now, his skin would normally start to slowly and painfully peel off, but the only thing that had changed was the water temperature, due to the fact his body was now used to it. He gasped from the cold as he was pulled deeper – waist deep – into the water. "Oh-!" It was so cool, but it was a nice and relaxing feeling. Zim sat in the water so that the __water went up to his chin; it felt so nice and comforting._

_"Look out!" a voice called, and before Zim knew it he was tackled back into the water. "Ouch!" His antennae were suddenly locked in a power struggle against GIR's. "H-hey!" he exclaimed, his antennae trying to push down their opposing threat. "GIR!"_

_GIR just giggled, continuing to wrestle in the sand with Zim, his antennae tugging and grappling with him._

_"Hey – cut it out!" Zim found GIR's laughter contagious, soon finding himself giggling a little as well "Get lost!" He laughed and struggled harder, successfully pushing the playful little SIR unit onto his back._

_Still giggling, GIR looked up at Zim, then gave his antenna a playful tug._

_"Ouch - _hey!_" Zim gave a slight smirk, his antennae flicking towards the SIR unit's belly in a playfully menacing way._

_GIR's giggles faded, as a look of utmost _horror _came to his face. "No-!"_

_Zim smirked, flicking his antennae closer to the SIR unit, and GIR's struggling became more pronounced._

_"NO!" GIR screamed, whimpering._

_Zim raised an eyebrow at him and drew back is antennae. "GIR, relax, I'm not going to hurt you! I'm just play-..." His voice trailed off when he heard it: the rushing water, and the salty sea spray misted his green head. Zim froze in pure fear as a dark shadow was cast on the two of them, and he quickly scrambled to his feet, clutching onto GIR. "Mother IRK-!"_

_A monstrous wave towering at least 200 feet into the air was barreling towards them at an extreme speed._

_Zim screamed and quickly broke into a panicked run across the moist sand and desperately clawed at the clay cliffs, but he only got a handful of wet clay and fell hard to the rocks below. "Ow-!"_

_Suddenly, a voice that made Zim's blood froze rigid spoke out, breaking the ghastly silence._

_"Zzzziim..."_

_The irken gasped out in horror and his grip tightened unintentionally hard on the robot in his arms. "No.. NO! NO, NOT AGAIN!"_

_GIR whimpered, his head shooting up.. "Wh-who's that? WHO'S THAT?"_

_Zim only turned GIR's head back into his shirt and backed up into the cliff. "N-nothing, it's okay, GIR.. I'll get us to safety!" And despite the impossibility, he was NOT going to let them die. With a desperate snarl, the irken thrust out a metal arm from his pak, feeling a spark of hope when the claw bit deep into the clay. "Please don't unhook – don't unhook!" He looked down into the frightened eyes __of his SIR unit, a look of determination on his own face. "We're going to make it, GIR! Hold on tight to me and whatever you do, DON'T LET GO."_

_Sobbing quietly, the SIR unit nodded and clung tightly to Zim's uniform._

_Wrapping both legs and arms around the mechanical arm, Zim began slowly advancing up the soft cliff, knowing very well that the soft surface could give way at any minute and both he and GIR would find themselves in a watery grave. The metal claw climbed higher and Zim desperately curled his body up to protect it from the spray of the sea. The higher they went, the higher the wave went as well! Horrified, Zim watched as the metal claw begin slowly sliding out of the clay. "No, no!"_

_"Zimmy!" a voice cried, and Zim's head shot up; he saw his mother holding her arms out to him._

_"Mamin!" Zim gasped, staring into his terrified mother's eyes. He cried out as the metal claw slipped a little more. "Augh-! Help me, Mamin!" He looked up at her with desperate and fearful eyes._

_"Hold on, sweetie, it'll be okay!" she promised. "BELL, come here! Zim and GIR need help!"_

_The young SIR unit rushed over, her eyes a deep shade of red. "Yes, Master?" Upon looking down at the two fearful creatures, clinging for dear life, her eyes faded to sapphire like they usually did when she showed emotion. "Oh-! Oh – hang on, young master!" A long rope shot out from her head...but it didn't reach them in time._

_"ZIM!" Mala screamed, running to the edge of the cliff, throwing a hand to her mouth._

_It happened so fast, Zim didn't even have a chance to scream. He squinted his eyes shut and tucked his head in – as did GIR, as they went plummeting into the sea. The cold shock from the water made Zim give a startled pant as he spluttered to the surface, still holding GIR and attempting to stay above water. A larger shadow fell over them. "GIR, hold your breath and hang tight!"_

_Still sobbing, the SIR unit nodded and clung tightly to Zim's chest._

_Hundreds of feet and gallons of water crashed against the cliffs, and both Zim and GIR were sucked under. Zim held his breath as his antennae desperately curled themselves in as they were mercilessly tossed around by the sea's salty hands.. Zim tried all he could to keep in his pained cries and whimpers in; if he opened his mouth just once, he'd drown._

I want to wake up!

_SLAM! It was one rock after the other._

_SLAM! Oh, Zim could hear his bones crack with that one. When the chronic spiraling finally seized, with the last strength Zim had, he pushed them both to the surface, spluttering and gasping for breath. He whimpered as pain shot up his entire frame, and tried to grab onto a slippery rock as yet _another _wave built up. "I want to wake up!" Zim cried again, tucking his head and antennae in as he braced for impact. "I've got to wake up!"_

_This wave sent the two of them barreling into the cliff, and Zim tried to create a cage around __GIR to protect him from the bone breaking hit. He gasped out from the jarring pain that blurred his optics, and surely cracked a few more ribs. His antennae fell back in defeat as he and GIR numbly slid down the cliff wall, and back into the ocean. Zim was shocked he had managed to hold onto the SIR unit the entire time. "No...no more.." He clawed desperately at the cliff wall as another wave began to rush towards them._

_A ghastly laugh, and blood red eyes beamed down at the terrified little aliens. "Zzzziiim.." it croaked._

_That's when Zim realized it: that was not a wave. Any other time at being confronted with this nightmare that made you wish you were rather eaten alive instead, Zim would have been in hysterics, but the paternal instinct switch that was hidden way at the back of his head flicked on, as the most threatening growl tore from his throat, and his antennae connected from the back of his head._

_The Warpatho's gruesome black lips gave something that resembled a smirk of pleasure and surprise at the brave little green worm that dared to stand up to him. "Interesssssting..." it hissed in a sing-song voice, "sssseems you've grown more bold, irkeeeeen.. Letsss sssee how long that lassstss.."_

_Zim dove out of the way of the opposing spiny tentacle that shot out towards him. He grimaced in pain as he moved his torn muscles and broken bones throughout the murky water and behind the Warpatho. He held his breath from the nauseating scent of death of many irkens from off the Warpatho's tentacles and breath._

_The hideous beast turned to them both, focusing its attention on the trembling little SIR unit in Zim's arms. "Sssssso...you have a little friend I sssssee.." Hungry and menacing tentacles reached out and mockingly caressed the SIR unit's face._

_Zim snarled, stumbling back in the water. "Leave him alone!" He desperately kicked against the sharp spines, crying out when he saw the green blood drip from his toes and mingle with the translucent water. "D-don't touch him! Don't touch us!" He gasped as something slimy and spiny suddenly wrapped around his ankle and yanked the both of them under the water. Zim could see nothing but the blurred gray that was still in his arms, and something black lurking towards his face. Whimpering, the irken struggled hard against the tentacle – that may as well have been an iron shackle that was on his ankle! "Mmph-!" His lungs (or whatever he had to breathe), screamed for oxygen, and his vision was slowly fading. Before he passed out, he felt something slide GIR from his limp arms and heard one final hiss,_

_"Zzzziiim, you are miiine..."_

_And everything faded to gray._

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Zim took a much needed gasp for air as he shot up in the bed, it felt as if his oxygen had been siphoned off in reality as well as the dream. Shaking violently once more, Zim reached over to the nightstand and turned on the bedside lamp. He was relived to see a peacefully sleeping GIR snuggled into is chest. _It was just a nightmare.._ And the worst one yet. Man, when were these horrible dreams of his past EVER going to _end?_ Still frazzled from the nightmare, Zim subtly picked GIR up and placed him on the pillow as he made his way out into the hallway, shocked to see the lights were still on. _The __human is still up?_ Yawning, Zim groggily made his way to the front door, just needing some fresh air. "Augh!" - and he promptly tripped over Dib who was sitting on the front porch.

Dib's eyes widened as he stared over the porch and to a frazzled little irken sprawled across the lawn. "Whoa! Harsh fall there. What are you still doing up?"

Groaning, and muttering something about his spine being broken, Zim got to his feet. "I should ask you the same thing, worm monkey. Don't you humans need sleep to recharge your brain worms?"

"Yeah...I just can't sleep."

"Ah. To tell you the truth, I WISH I couldn't sleep!" He shuddered once more.

"Another nightmare? You should really speak to a therapist about that..."

"HA! As if your human _hairy-pits_ can take down nightmares this bad!" he said mater-a-factly.

Sigh. "_Therapists._ They don't take them away, but they can make it so you don't have them anymore."

"Why don't I just not sleep anymore?" Zim said with a shrug, as he sat down on the porch beside Dib. "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh...stuff.."

"...Informative."

Sigh. "I'm just worried that the Swollen Eyeballs may track us down somehow.. And I guess I'm kinda worried about the outcome of our battle with Irk."

"Oh, let me answer that for you right now: they will _crush us._"

Eyes wide, Dib glared at him. "Then why are we even attempting it?"

"I'll never be able to face my own self again if I don't at least attempt it! There is nothing left in my life to live for now anyways and this is my only mission left." The irken crossed his legs and looked up into the sky. "This is not only for the good of my sanity, but for the rest of the universe!" He waved his arms towards the sky. "They'll stop at nothing to enslave or slaughter every last being in the galaxies, and that includes Earth." His stared bored into Dib. "It may be a suicide mission, but you really would be protecting your planet then."

Dib joined Zim in looking at the sky. "But...your friends..?"

Zim snorted. "What friends? I have none of them. I'm the most hated irken on my planet.." His antennae went back. "And in the entire universe.."

"Okay...what about your family, then?"

Zim seemed to freeze at that word, and his antennae went even further back. "I have none.." he whispered sorrowfully, suddenly trying to shake off the images of BELL and Mala from his head. "So I don't need to worry about hurting anyone I care about.." His fists clenched in fury. "I hate them all!" Letting himself relax a little, he looked over to the human. "What we're attempting really is a suicide mission though... But.." One antenna perked up a little. "You never know until you try.." Looking at the moon, he determined it was around three in the morning. "You should get some sleep, Dib stink, or you'll be a wreck tomorrow." He stood up and headed towards the front door. "You can't be worrying about these things now." With that, he strode off into the kitchen.

Dib gazed up into the sky one last time with a heavy sigh. "What will be, will be.." he muttered, then joined Zim in the condo.

**END OF PART 1**

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_(Ah, now we get into the fluffy part of this huge three part fic "the Path To Redemption", and I'm about a chapter away from being able to post my mini fics. :D)_


	20. Chapter 20

(**NOTE: You need to read my "Irktionary" to understand the many antennae gestures in this fic from now on.)**

Part 2: The Path To Redemption  
_Chapter 20 - At The End Of My Leash_

_There is _something _wrong with Zim..._ Dib realized, observing the irken's strange behavior.

"Smeet, come here," Zim murmured listlessly, as he took a hold of Talia's wrist. "It's time for a bath." He untied her satin bow, and undid the snaps to her jumper suit, as he carefully slid her panties over the scars on her legs. He didn't even seem to realize that GIR was jumping on his head and nipping at his antennae, or that he was pouring the entire bottle of bubble bath into the tub.

Dib's eyes widened. "Uh..Zim?"

"GIR, you too, I guess." He plucked the SIR unit off his head and sat him into the tub of soapy water.

"Zim!" Dib gasped, backing up into the doorway as lavender scented soap bubbles began to overflow the bathroom. "Zim!"

Seeming to snap awake, the irken let out a shriek and stumbled off the stool he was on, as he shoved away the enormous bubble threat. "Get away!" His hand fumbled around the bathroom cabinet until he found a good long scrubbing brush, and began desperately swatting at the soap bubbles. "Back, back, you hungry bubble beast! BACK!"

Dib plunged forward into the huge bubble mass, shutting off the taps, and slumping down against the side of the tub. "Wow...that was close.."

Talia and GIR just shrieked with laughter, popping and grabbing at floating bubbles, and oblivious to everything but the bubble fun – like most children.

"Sorry," Zim murmured, as his scrubbing brush fell to his side and he sat in front of the tub.

Dib was about to rant and rave in anger about how Zim should be more careful, and pay more attention, but he thought better of it. Sigh. "It's okay.. You have to make sure you watch the bubbles though." He noticed a strange glistening look in the irken's eyes. "Zim, are you okay? You've been acting so strange lately."

Zim shrugged casually, listlessly gazing at a bubble on his finger. "I'm fine, human, get lost. I want to bathe the smeets...ALONE!" he screamed, flinging the scrub brush at the human.

"GAH!" Dib screamed and stumbled into a nearby book shelf, pushing himself up and darting away before the books went tumbling down to the ground.

GIR poked his head out of the bubble cloud with a giggle, spitting a stream of water into his master's face.

Zim squinted, wiping the droplets from his cheeks, and thankful for the layer of paste covering his skin. "Don't do that, GIR," he sighed. Something in his voice suggested to the young SIR unit that he had better listen this time, and he did.

Talia fingered one of her purple curls; she too, noticing there was something wrong with Zim. He had the kind of look in his eyes that she had had many times during her captivity, and she didn't like seeing him that way. Before she even had a chance to ask him what was wrong, her mouth was suddenly filled with the bitter taste of soap, as a downpour of water washed over her purple bangs.

GIR squinted his optics shut as water came pouring down his own head, and Zim began scrubbing his head with a sponge. Giggling and trying to cheer him up, he took a claw-ful of bubbles and blew them into his master's face.

Zim gagged on a few of the pesky soap bubbles that stuck to the back of his throat, and he smacked the other five away, before smacking GIR as well. "GIR, knock it off! I'm not in the mood!"

The SIR unit yelped, before relishing back in surprise, tears filling his eyes to the brim. Zim just glared at him, waiting for the window breaking wails that came the moment the robot drew in his breath:

"WAAAAAAAAAAH!" - followed by a more girly round of "WAAAAAAAAAAH!" 's.

Zim let out a loud frustrated cry, slamming down the brush and sponge, and standing up. "Shut up!" he shouted at the SIR unit, "why do you always have to be so difficult?" His only response was a duet of bawling. "Stupid – annoying little _smeets!_" he snarled, hurling a towel at the wall, and lividly storming past a very confused Dib in the doorway.

"Whoa- hey! What's going on?" Dib asked to Zim's back, that was storming down the hall. He rushed in to the children, calming them down and finishing their baths. _There is something really wrong with that irken..._ He had seen him angry, of course! In fact, there was never a time he saw Zim actually happy, but he had never seen such pain and and rage in the alien like this. He had never seen him slam things, smack GIR (except on the plane), or throw things. _What is up with him?_ He wasn't sure if he should ask; Zim seemed so upset right now. _Maybe I'll talk to him later.._ Sighing to himself, he picked up the sponge and finished the kids' bath.

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Zim was busy pacing the backyard, kicking at any pebbles that were unfortunate enough to get in his way. "RAGH!" He kicked them into the ocean ahead, glaring at the sea as if it had done something unforgivable to him. The irken peered down at the foaming waves, and without thinking, strode towards the shore. He breathed into the salty sea air, gagging on the nauseating scent. He wasn't really sure _what_ he was doing; perhaps he had just lost his mind. With losing his mission, his base, his purpose, perhaps his sanity _was_ the last to go. He ran forward into the salty waves, feeling a cold fire lick its way up to his knees, and he watched as green blood clouded the pure substance. Gasping in pain, he quickly drew his feet from the water, clutching onto the bleeding burns.

_Why'd I do that?_ Had he finally gone over the edge, or did he just need something to snap him back to reality? Frazzled, and distressed, he pulled his black pants over the burns and went back to the condo – sitting on the front porch this time. He gazed over towards a few cardboard boxes on the lawn. "Oh, the Dib stink forgot to bring in these boxes, it seems." Well, he had nothing else to do, so he may as well bring them in. Zim stepped down the porch, and towards a fair sized cardboard box. He was surprised that it was strangely heavy for such a small box. "Mother IRK, what is _in_ this thing?" He began strenuously dragging what may as well been a box of _rocks_ – into the condo.

_Rip.._

"Oh, fashnar..." Zim let out a startled yelp as the cardboard suddenly tore open, and he went flying backwards, the containment of the box spilling out on top of him and into the grass. "O-how.." Grunting, he pulled off something rectangular and heavy from his stomach. "What the..?" He held it up in front of his face.

It was Dib as a little smeet. Man, he was an ugly pink thing...with a big head. Who was that holding him? She was a human; she reminded him of Gaz: she had shoulder length purple hair, purple eyes..she kind of reminded him of Talia as well. _I've never seen her before, who is she?_ Was she Dib's mother? Come to think of it, he had never seen Dib with both his parental units..only one. Weren't humans supposed to have two? Why did he only have one? Where was his mother? He sorted through the rest of the destroyed box, finding old photo albums and weird trinkets. _Maybe these will give me some sort of clue._

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"I have a surprise for you," Dib said with a grin, he was holding something behind his back that the children couldn't see.

GIR and Talia just looked up sadly, they couldn't tell what the surprise was, but neither of them seemed to be in the mood.

"Look, look!" Dib exclaimed, holding up a couple adorable outfits; one was a blue little jumper with a pig on the front, and another was a white dress with puffed purple sleeves and hearts on it. "They're little outfits I picked out for you two!" He grinned, holding both up to the childrens' faces. "Huh? Huh?"

With sad little pouts, both GIR and Talia looked up at the outfits, then back down into the water again.

Dib sighed, his arms falling helplessly to his lap. "Look, kids, I know you're worried about Zim, but it's Zim; he'll be fine." _I hope._ He nudged both gently under the chin. "I want you two to cheer up, and try on these little outfits. I need to know if they fit." He picked them both up and wrapped them in separate towels – one blue and one pink. "Dry off, I need to go see what Zim is up to."

Zim was busy leafing through pages in Dib's photo album. As he went through a family photo of each year, he noticed significant changes in the female Dib. She seemed to become so much more paler and she had these weird tubes sticking out of her wrist; she had almost turned a gray color. _Irkens only have tubes coming from them when they're in their birthing pod. What is wrong with this female? How did she change her color?_

"HEY!" Zim heard a loud angry shout, and before he knew it he was on the ground, his cheek stinging. Was the human actually stupid enough to _slap_ him? The irken gave a low hiss, as he got to his feet, rubbing his face. "What. Was. THAT, HUMAN?"

Dib gathered his precious photos and possessions, scrambling to his feet, and feeling the urge to hit Zim yet again. "Who gave you the right to tear open one of my personal boxes and go through them, alien scum?"

Zim's antennae flared, as he clenched his fists. "LISTEN to me, you INSOLENT HYU-MAN! I was trying to bring in the boxes for you and it tore open!"

Dib snorted; was that all he could come up with? "Pathetic, Zim! You expect me to believe you actually tried to do something _nice_, and you expect me to believe that the box just "happened" to rip open?" he sneered.

Zim shook his head, unable to believe the human was so ignorant. "Just LISTEN to me, you stupid stinking WORM MONKEY! It ripped when I tried to pull it into the house!" He picked up the photo album he'd been looking at. "What is the importance of this stuff to you?"

Dib narrowed his eyes at him and snatched the album back. "It's just old stuff I have of my mother, okay? Now, stay out of my stuff!"

The irken sighed, almost feeling guilty. "Look, I didn't realize that box of book type things was so important to you, Dib.."

Coldly, with his back turned to the alien, Dib snapped the book shut. "Of course you wouldn't know. You have no _heart._"

That hit Zim like a slap in the face by the tentacle of a Warpatho. "..._What?_"

"I said, _you have no heart._" Dib's fists clenched as he went on. "You even said it yourself, invaders care about no one but themselves, don't love anyone but themselves, don't care who they hurt or anything like that." His nostrils flared. "You wouldn't know the pain of losing someone you love.."

Something inside Zim snapped at this point; his antennae slowly flattening back against his skull. Maybe it was the years of suppressed rage and grief, maybe it was the nightmares that finally pushed him off the edge. Whatever it was, he snapped. Mechanical arms shot out from his pak and roughly seized Dib by both wrists, dragging him over the grass and right up to Zim's ankles. "Oh, _wouldn't I?_" Zim hissed darkly through bared teeth, as something extended from his pak.

Dib whimpered as the restraints clamped harder on his wrist as he tried to make a get away. "Yeah! You wouldn't! Augh-!" The restraints tightened to the point he heard his bones crack. "Ow – augh! Zim, let GO!"

Not even hearing him, Zim's attention was directed on a screen that had suddenly appeared in mid air, connected to his pak. The screen fuzzed up for a few minutes, then projected the clear image of a very tall irken.

_The taller irken – who seemed to be female bent down to the viewer. "Now, Zim, darling, I need you to promise that you'll be good for the Tallest. You will be, right, baby?"_

_"Uh huh!" the viewer squeaked; he handed something up to her. It looked like a toy...GIR? "And __you promise ta' take Tin tin to planet Clean to get the dirties washed off 'im?"_

_The female irken nodded, smiling down at him. "_Only _if you promise to be good. Can you do that for me, my little smeet?"_

_"A'course, Mamin!"_

Dib blinked up at Zim. "Mamin?" But the irken didn't answer.

_The screen changed, it showed the viewer being handed to these very tall irkens. Wait a minute..Dib had seen them before...it was the Tallest! Both grimaced down at the sight of the puny viewer, sighed, and assured the female irken apparently known as "invader Mala", that Zim would be taken proper care of. Both the smeet and Mala did a weird thing with their antennae, and pulled back._

Dib just stared, rather stunned. Was that sweet, innocent, and frankly ADORABLE little green thing really _Zim?_ When and how did he ever love someone so deeply? Irkens couldn't feel!

_The screen faded out once again, this time it showed two frantic tall irkens running after a mischievous little smeet that ran all throughout a giant control room._

_"Zim, would you get back here! Guards, stop that smeet!"_

_Strong hands grabbed a hold of the viewer, holding him by the scruff off his shirt and suspending him in the air. "Be careful, smeet, you'll break everything if you keep running!" He looked at the Tallest. "When did you say the smeet's mother returns?"_

_"In about ten minutes, just hold off your weapons. You know we can't terminate Irken Elite Mala's smeet."_

_"Ah, true, true.."_

_"Hey look, I see the smeet's mother now!" The Tallest looked relived. "Zim, come here, your mother is finally back!"_

_The viewer gasped and ran along side the tall red eyed irken, happily jumping up and down. "Mamin! Mamin!"_

_The screen showed a shiny purple ship whizzing towards the massive; the screen suddenly went up and down – Zim was probably jumping in excitement. He squealed the same foreign word over and over again. Dib could make out something following the space craft, lurking quietly behind it. It seemed the Tallest could as well; his grip tightened on the smeet's shoulders._

_"MA-" Zim began, abruptly cut off by a sudden loud explosion. The purple ship went spiraling to the ground, bursting into flames._

Dib could only gasped, he turned to Zim; the irken's antennae were doing a really weird thing; they were swaying gently back and forth as he stared at the screen. "Zim?"

_"NO!" The viewer gave a scream and clawed at the windows. "Why isn' anyone doin' __anything?"_

_Orange flames leaped from the windows of the shuttle as it came crashing to the ground. A bigger explosion erupted, and rain began to fall- rain made of ember._

_He clawed desperately at the windows again, fighting to get over to the burning shuttle. A hand fell gently on the smet's shoulder, irken claws tightening just the slightest bit on him, pulling him back._

_"You can't go there," an authoritative voice spoke, but he spoke gently; a lot different than it had spoken before.. "It's too dangerous."_

_"But someone's gotta get 'er outta there!" He struggled more against the strong hands, reaching out to the shuttle, but the hands grabbed his arms._

_"MAMIN!" _

The loud scream faded out, as well as the dark flames, and the screen went back into its pak. Zim slowly turned to the human; a strange dark fire in his eyes. "You think just because I'm a different species, I don't have a heart? You assume _just_ because I had a mission to destroy your planet, it means I don't care about anything? I'm a cold blooded monster-" his voice took a weird tone, and the fire became stronger. "-who never had a Mamin, a Danem, a family, a place to call _home-!_"

Dib began slowly backing away, terror growing inside him. "Zim, calm down, I didn't know you had a family!" He gave a loud gasp of pain as irken claws tore through the flesh on his left cheek.

"Of course you'd never assume I did," Zim hissed on as he advanced towards the frightened human, weird and dangerous looking stuff extending from his pak, "I don't have a heart. _remember?_" He emphasized the last word with a fierce blast from one of is lasers – it just missed the boy's shoulder.

Dib gasped, stumbling over a flower pot and falling hard onto his back. "Zim, please, listen to me! I'm sorry, okay?" He paled when he saw Zim grab a nearby gardening tool: a hoe.

"Not as sorry _as you're going to be!_" Zim savagely lunged at the boy with the hoe, successfully pounding him on the back with it.

"Ow-!" Dib yelped, he quickly grabbed a hold of the hoe with both hands, desperately trying to wrestle it from the irken's hands.

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_Aren't you two done dressing yet?_ Minimoose squeaked angrily, flitting above both Talia and GIR as the confused kids attempted to dress themselves.

GIR's metal lip stuck out in a childish pout. "Clothies are hard ta' get on!" He had never put on clothes before other than his dog outfit. On one solid occasion – a cold winter's day – Zim had dressed him in a snap on little green coat and a scarf, but GIR had no idea how he did it.

Talia wasn't having too much luck herself; she had never dressed herself before, and was fumbling around, trying to get her head in the _sleeve._

_Well, hurry up!_ Minimoose squeaked on, _they're going to wonder what's taking us so..._ He trailed off, sighting a very bizarre and horrifying scene out in the front lawn. "...Squeeeeeeeeeaaaaak!" The floating moose grabbed both GIR's claw and Talia's hand with his nubs. _Come on, we gotta move it!_ - promptly dragging the half dressed kids out of the room.

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Dib kicked desperately against the ground when he felt his feet start to slip in the dewy grass. _Darn you, condensation!_ he inwardly screamed, _you and your horrible slipperyness!_ His feet finally skidded, and part of him slid under Zim's legs; he was still holding on to a part of the hoe.

In retribution, now gaining the upper hand, Zim jerked Dib upwards along with the hoe, and hurled the both of them into Professor Membrane's mini green house by the gates.

Dib sucked in air through his teeth and gritted them in pain as he heard the sickening "rip" from glass shards cutting deep into his skin. His oxygen suddenly seized with a loud "woosh" sound, as the hoe pinned him to the fence, lodging itself firmly in between the gate's two hedges. Dib was trapped. He made a few futile struggles and kicks, and trying to plead with Zim, telling him to snap out if it...but to no avail.

The same fire in Zim's eyes which had seemed to turn into a black color, burned brighter and fiercer. The tips of his lasers began to glow dimly, indicating they were being charged to deliver the death blow.

"Noooooo!" a voice squealed, and Zim felt himself being pulled back some. "Leave Big Head 'lone!" GIR's voice, definitely.

Not even acknowledging anything but getting revenge on the human for what he had said, Zim stepped closer as the deadly hum from is lasers became louder.

GIR whimpered in distress, and stumbled forward, putting his arms out protectively in front of Dib. Any day, Zim may have laughed at how ridiculous GIR looked with his blue overall strap over his head, and only one leg in the little pants, but not today. "Masterrr! Wakey! Don't be evil! Doooon't!"

"Get out of the way, GIR!" Zim snarled, not stopping his laser power up. "Let me finish this!"

"No, I won't!" GIR shot back, trembling in fear at the sight of the lasers. Surely his master would come to before he realized what he was doing...wouldn't he? "You stop bein' mean! Put your lasery thingies away!"

"I said _get out of the way, GIR!_" Zim snarled, crouching a bit.

"No!" GIR stood in front of the shaking human, not budging an inch.

Zim's glare deepened for a minute, and the fire was darker than ever, than it suddenly faded, and the irken's antennae went back to neutral state. He sighed and lowered his weapons, briefly dropping his guard.

_NOW!_ Minimoose ordered, as both he and Talia took this opportunity to pounce on Zim from behind. The fire returned for a brief moment as Zim snarled and struggled, and his lasers began to glow once more. Minimoose quickly flipped open his pak and disabled everything, from his weapons to his spider legs. The struggling ceased as Zim suddenly went into a vulnerable state. His antennae fell back and quivered violently, as he let out weird noises and whimpers – muffled from the grass.

Talia hopped off Zim's back and hurried up to Dib, prying and pulling the hoe from the hinges, and freeing the trapped boy; she was only wearing a pink shirt, panties down to her ankles, and seemed to have lost her little bottoms at the door when Minimoose pulled her out.

Dib only stood there, shocked beyond belief at what he was seeing; his eyes as wide as could be. He moved only when Talia grabbed his hand and urged him back into the condo, shutting the door tight.

Zim just lay there in defeat, his antennae were still trembling violently and he was still making strange noises, looking down into the grass.

GIR and Minimoose sat gently on his back, looking down sadly at their poor confused and distressed master. GIR gently curled his antenna around the base of Zim's and pressed the side of his head with the side of his master's head; Minimoose did the same with his nubs.

_Get him inside,_ Minimoose quietly ordered, _and keep him away from Dib..._

GIR hesitantly linked arms with Zim, who didn't make any type of struggle, but only kept his defeated eyes on the ground as both his minions helped him into the Condo.

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_(Zim is finally pushed over the edge...)_


	21. Chapter 21

Part 2: The Path To Redemption  
_Chapter 21 - Sharing Memories_

(**NOTE: You need to read my "Irktionary" to understand the many antennae gestures in this fic from now on.)**

It didn't take much for Zim to calm down; he gave in pretty much the moment Minimoose and Talia pinned him down. Now, the irken sat down on the couch, an emotionless expression on his face as he stared listlessly at the wooden floor.

"Master, do you want a muffin?" Minimoose asked softly, keeping his distance from the deranged invader.

Without lifting his head, Zim silently nodded, holding out a hand.

Minimoose glanced nervously at the muffin, and then at his master's hand, tentatively coming closer, drawing back whenever Zim reached out further.

"Minimoose, I'm not going to hurt you," came Zim's unbelievably sad response. "Just give me the muffin."

The floating moose quickly handed Zim the muffin, flinching at the amount of pain that was in his master's eyes. _Where is Zim? Where is the conceited, arrogant, maniacal Zim we know?_ This sad, smeet like little irken was not him. With a sad little "nya", he floated up to Zim and nuzzled his forehead affectionately.

Zim pushed the stuffed moose away, curling up into the back of the couch. "Leave me alone, Minimoose..." He tucked his head in between his legs, and didn't come back out.

Giving something that represented a defeated sigh, Minimoose glanced back sadly at his master, before floating down the hall.

Zim was all alone in the living room; the entire room, from the ceiling to the floor, was dark and dreary. _Just like me..._ He almost felt fearful of the unsettling darkness. It felt as if a Warpatho was going to snatch him up with its tentacles at any minute. He trembled a little, gazing at the dark walls and just waiting for that to happen.

_Knock, knock._

With a shrill screech, Zim's entire body jumped, attaching itself to the lamp like a frightened kitten being chased up a tree by a dog.

"Whoa – hey, hey! Zim, it's just me!" Dib exclaimed, flicking the light on. "Relax..."

Zim's fearful expression changed to one of pure hate, as he slowly slid down the lamp post, and onto the couch. "What do you want, human? Haven't you crushed me enough for one day?"

Dib felt a flicker of regret. "Zim, I'm _sorry._ I had no idea you used to have a family! ….And a mother that died.."

"Of course you assumed I didn't!" Zim snapped, "because I have no _heart!_"

"Listen to me!" Dib yelled, shaking Zim by the shoulders. "Can you blame me for thinking that? You always said, 'invaders need no one', so how was I supposed to think you had a family with _that_ knowledge?"

Zim hissed through his teeth. "Yes, well now you know! I had a Mameen and she died! I had a home, it was destroyed! I had a life, IT WAS DESTROYED!" he screamed, looking ready to tear Dib apart once more. "EVERYTHING WAS DESTROYED!" He suddenly tore a lamp from its socket and went to hurl it at Dib, who promptly ducked out of the way of the passing threat.

At the same time, GIR had chosen this moment to come into the living room. "Mas-" He was cut off as the lamp crashed into him, sending him reeling backwards into the wall.

Immediately, coming to and out of his rage, a hand flew to Zim's mouth, when he stared, horrified at what he had done. "G-GIR-!"

Shaking, and probably in renewed pain, GIR stumbled out of the room, crying.

"No, wait-! GIR, I didn't mean-...it..." Zim whispered, his hands falling helplessly to his sides as he sat on the couch. "You better leave, human... I'm dangerous right now.."

Dib glanced worriedly at the doorway, hoping the little SIR was alright. "Y-you aren't dangerous, Zim... You're just upset. It's a common emotion that people get when something is really bothering them."

"Yes, well, when an irken gets upset it can be very dangerous." Zim rubbed his eyes, blinking as something was pushed into his lap: the photo album. "What are you doing? I'm not looking in that; I'd rather not be slapped again."

"I won't slap you... Read the paragraph under the first page."

Muttering quiet irken profanities, Zim flipped the book open, scanning the paragraph.

_My mother: even as sick as she is, she keeps my spirits up; she's my will to go on. It doesn't matter to me that I have no friends, just as long as I have her it'll be fine. I don't really know why she's so sick, but I'm sure Daddy can fix her!...Right? She used to be so strong, but it seems like she just keeps getting sicker. I hope she's better before my birthday._

Zim looked up from the page. "What was wrong with your mother?"

"Leukemia," Dib whispered, his hair falling forward. "She was sick with leukemia."

"Lu-ke-meiaaa..? Why is it your stupid earth illnesses are so hard to pronounce? And why do you seem to have so many?" Zim began counting on his fingers, "Irkens only have a few illnesses; the deadliest being Irken Calosis."

"Leukemia," Dib went on, speaking in a loud tone to shut Zim up, "is a type of cancer in the blood."

"Cancer? Ah yes, I heard of that." Zim waved a wrist dismissively, "we were taught about this 'cancer' in science class. So, your mother had it, why didn't your filthy earth hospital cure her?"

Dib's fists clenched as he went on, "_if_ you listened at _all_ in class, _Zim_, you would have heard that cancer can be stopped until it reaches a certain point: when it spreads to other parts of the body. She soon developed lung cancer as well."

Zim's mouth made a small and surprised "o", but he kept quiet.

"I was only around five at the time; I had no idea that she was so sick. Dad only said she had a very bad cold - and me being only a toddler and stupidly gullible and oblivious – I believed him." He looked up at Zim. "Everyone was different before my mother's death."

"Even your scary, dangerous little sister?"

Dib breathed out, letting his hands fall to his lap. "_Especially_ her. She was a sweet..and innocent little girl; she wore all the dresses that Talia is wearing now."

Zim still seemed confused. Why was it that the death of someone affected you so much that you'd actually change who you were? "But I don't understand it!" he exclaimed, "just because your female parental unit died, you all changed? Death happens all the time, Dib! You can't just change who you are because it happens."

Dib sighed. _I knew he wouldn't understand._ "It isn't something you can control, Zim. Didn't you change a little when that...Mala girl..of yours died?" The room fell deathly silent for a minute, and Zim just gazed down at the ground.

"...Well..." He sighed, turning his head over the arm rest of the couch and looking at the wall.

"That...Mala, was she your..._mother?_"

It seemed to take an eternity for Zim to respond, so Dib just figured that he didn't want to answer the question, and went to get up-

"...Not biologically."

"Huh?" Dib turned to him.

"She wasn't my mother biologically, but I still called her 'Mameen'; which is irken for mother. When I was born from a birthing pod, I was much smaller than the average irken, and was supposed to be terminated the very next day. Right before I was led out to termination, an older female irken stopped the irkens in their tracks, grabbing onto their hands and pleading that she could take the defective smeet instead. The Tallest agreed to the request since it was one of their top elite soldiers that was asking for this, and she had not yet been given the rights to have a smeet herself.  
She took me back with her to her home; it was an old fashioned little house that we both lived in for the next few years. There she raised me with opposite knowledge that normal smeets are taught in the military facilities. She taught me that everyone deserved a chance, taught me to express emotions, rather then teaching me to forget them, and told me there was no such thing as a defective. Eventually, I was comfortable enough with her that I called her Mameen, and we really did become like a Mameen and smeet. Despite that we were not biologically related, we still shared that same bond that a mother and...son share."

Dib just seemed frozen to his seat, unable to believe Zim was actually being so _open_ with him. "B-but...if you had been taught to love and give a chance, why did you turn out to be so..." He didn't know how to finish that sentence without hurting the vulnerable alien. Luckily, Zim finished for him.

"So cruel? Heartless? Cold and mean? I know you well enough to see that's what you wanted to say, human, but I can understand your curiosity. After my Mameen's death, I was forced into what she had struggled all those years to protect me from: invader training. She knew I wanted to be an invader, but was determined to train me herself so I wouldn't have to go through the brutality others are forced into."

"Oh, come on? How bad can it be?"

Zim's eyes flickered in cold anger, as he glowered at the human. "How bad can it be? Irk itself is known in the universe as nothing but a military planet and a torture chamber. There is a reason irkens are the most hated race in all the galaxies, Dib. Without my Mameen's influence and support, I was forced under the influence of other irkens; they trained young innocent little smeets to be nothing but living emotionless war machines, and they don't care how they train them." He swallowed hard. "My body has far more deep and swelled scars than the smeet's does, and each one of them is a terrible reminder of the worst time of my life in that living...hell.  
Punishments could vary depending on the act of treason; it could vary between a severe and nearly fatal beating, to torture by water, or...t-to the worst one:..._the Warpatho._"

Dib quirked an eyebrow. "The war-_what?_"

"A Warpatho, Dib, is the worst nightmare in all of the galaxy – the universe."

"Oh _pff,_ I think you're overreacting, space boy."

Face vacant and emotionless, a screen extended from Zim's pak and in front of the human. "Oh..._am_ I?"

_On the screen, was a tiny little green creature, a smeet, clearly, in front of this giant black mass at the back of a cell._

A wet, spiny black tentacle flopped out from under the mass, and in front of the child. The tentacle itself was at least three times bigger than the smeet, and suddenly the mass stood up.

"Sssso, another little ssssssmeet, I ssssee..." the monster hissed softly, mockingly caressing the terrified child with one of its tentacles. "Not bad, for a ssssssmeet.. Ssstomach plenty big enough to harbour my young.."

Dib looked over at Zim, who was keeping his eyes away from the screen, looking like he was about to vomit.

_The smeet was screaming and crying, calling for it's Mameen over and over again, and desperately trying to claw away from the restraints that rooted it firmly into the ground._

"Hold ssstill, irken..." the beast hissed, drawing the frightened child towards it with a tentacle. "It will hurt mooore if you keep thrassshing..."

Within mere moments, Dib was desperately swallowing bile, and trying to keep the vomit down. A shrill scream of agony ripped through the entire cell, blood spurting and dripping crudely down the walls. Gagging sounds were heard, and _more blood exploded from somewhere on the screen. From over the screeches, Dib could make out the monster's pleasured laugh, as well as one from an irken above the cell._

Finally, Dib leaned over the side of the couch, heaving out his stomach contents, as Zim just sat there on the couch, pale white and shaking.

Wiping the remaining water from his face, Dib turned to Zim, holding his stomach and mouth, disgusted and terrified beyond belief. "Oh...oh my...go...go..."

Zim only nodded grimly, dispelling the horrid images, and letting the room return to its quiet and peaceful state.

"Z-Z-Zim...that's what...you have nightmares about?"

Swallowing hard, his eyes glistening a little, the irken stared hard at the wall, and trying to regain control of his erratic breathing. "Uh-huh..." He closed his eyes tight. "Except, they never seem to just go after me. For some reason, GIR and Talia always seem to be dragged into the nightmare. It doesn't matter how much I kick and scream, plead and struggle...I can never save them."

Suddenly, an overwhelming guilt churned in Dib's stomach. Memories of what he had said to Zim and how he had acted that night came back. No wonder Zim finally slipped off the edge.. Those nightmares...they were more than nightmares.. It was his own gruesome past he was dreaming about.

"The dreams always start so well, so amazing. I'd wake up and find myself back at my old home, with my mother, BELL, and GIR.. We could be all laughing and chasing each other, playing or just being together as the family we used to be...and suddenly, I'll find myself face to face with that nightmare once more." Shamelessly, he admitted, "I am now..._terrified_ to go back to sleep ever again. These dreams of my past are constantly haunting me. It doesn't matter what the dream is like in the beginning, it always ends in the exact same way.  
Night after night, I find myself going out into your bedroom to make sure you and the smeet are still there. Sometimes, I've even pull GIR up into the bed, thinking that he'd also be snatched away at any moment. It just doesn't make sense why these nightmares would suddenly happen all of a sudden. I'm almost tempted to find Tin-tin and sleep with him!" He laughed, bitterly.

Dib vaguely recognized that name. "Tin-tin?"

"A stuffed robot that Mameen gave to me when I was a smeet; it stopped all the bad dreams I had." He reached into his pak, rummaging in it for a while, before pulling out a worn and dirty plush robot...that looked uncannily like GIR! That was the robot Dib had seen Zim hand to Mala on the screen. "I don't know why I kept this old robot...it was the last thing I had of my mother. I haven't taken it out of my pak since I was a smeet."

Dib was quiet, fingering the worn little antenna on the stuffed robot's head. He reached into the busted cardboard box Zim had been trying to drag in, and pulled something out, throwing it onto Zim's lap.

Very perplexed, Zim held the raggy thing up. It was a blanket..or a towel...could be a rag of some kind, and it was completely tattered and gross. "...Ew," he said, screwing up his face, "it smells like _you.._"

Dib just rolled his eyes. "That's my old baby blanket.. My mom made it for me when I was only about two years old. "She stitched a picture of an alien on it.

Zim held up the blanket and read the word printed on the front: "believe...in what?"

"Even as two, I was always trying to find aliens and Big foot and such, " he chuckled. "She was the only one that supported me. She told me to believe in everything, whatever I wanted to. She supported me in my love for the paranormal, and she often came with me to hunt for ghost bees and stuff. She told me not to listen to anything my father said; she said that none of my dreams were stupid and she'd always support me." He sighed. "After her death, I had no supporters, no friends... and for the first time, it bothered me. Without my mother, I really felt alone. I was miserable, and felt like I had no one to relate to. I was an outcast, I had no friends, people always laughed at me. It felt like my own race was mocking me!" To his chagrin, Zim chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"You just described my entire _life_, Dib!" Zim looked at the human. "You think that I wasn't an outcast? I was the size of a PEA compared to other smeets! I almost destroyed my own planet!" His eyes narrowed. "But to be honest, I wish that I _had_destroyed it.." He looked at the human, suddenly seeing him in a different light. "I never realized enemies could be so similar."

Dib crooked a grin. "Yeah..me too." He sighed. "And, for the record, I'm sorry-"

Zim held up a hand to shush him. "Stop. There is no need to dwell on the past; we have a brand new beginning ahead of us now. We should try to make some kind of peace since we'll be teamed up and against Irk."

"That's a good idea, Zim. Our constant squabbles and fights aren't going to get us anywhere." He smirked, "but can we still insult each other whenever we want?"

Zim grinned back, mischief twinkling in his eye. "I was going to, anyways."

"So what do we do? Shake hands?"

"No. I have a better idea." Zim sat beside the human, his antennae briefly tapped the edge of Dib's hair, and his fingertips touched the human's.

Totally confused, Dib looked up to where Zim's antennae was on his hair. "What are you doing?"

The irken chuckled as he drew his antennae back, standing up and beginning to walk out of the room. "You should really learn more about the Irken language." With that, he closed the door.

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_(With request I uploaded the next chapter. :D)_


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